Obama looms over divided Democratic primary

Obama looms over divided Democratic primary
By Max Greenwood - 11/28/19 07:58 PM EST
Quoted Excerpts:
Former President Obama has emerged as a key player in the Democratic presidential primary race.
He hasn’t put his thumb on the scale for any one candidate in particular. But in two different speeches this month, he has made clear that presidential hopefuls would be wise to avoid moving too far to the left if they hope to win back the White House in 2020.
His latest remarks came last week as Obama met with party donors in California, where he urged Democrats to “chill out” about the primary contest and prepare to rally behind the eventual nominee. But he also appeared to warn against calling for too drastic of change.
“When you listen to the average voter — even ones who aren’t stalwart Democrats, but who are more independent or are low-information voters — they don’t feel that things are working well, but they’re also nervous about changes that might take away what little they have,” Obama said.
“For him to weigh in, he knows that anything he says will be analyzed by the political media and the powers that be,” Gifford said. “But he can set a tone. The tone of this primary so far hasn’t necessarily been negative but it hasn’t been that positive either.
“He’s weighing in to unify the party as much as he can; to help out without being some sort of master manipulator.”
But Gifford, Obama’s former finance director, said that even the opinions of someone “as significant as Barack Obama” will not reshape the race in its entirety.
“It’s not as if he will move the needle tremendously,” Gifford said. “What he can do is help to establish a more healthy political narrative.”
Article Link
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/471962-obama-looms-over-divided-democratic-primary
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