"Get out of the way": Obama calls on "old folks" in power to trust young activists, lawmakers

[Mr. Sparkle]

It would be easy for former President Barack Obama to get cynical. The signature achievement of his two terms in office is on the brink of oblivion, and many of the progressive wins of his era have been rolled back by a reactionary presidency and a conservative Supreme Court. Still, the one-time organizer has hope that the next generation of lawmakers can fix the problems that plague the United States. Speaking at Crystal Bridges, the Arkansas art museum founded by the Walton family, he called on the Democratic Party‘s old guard to “get out of the way” of upstarts seeking change.

“My bet is that all the problems we have right now will be solved if old folks get out of the way and we turn the reins over to this next generation that is coming up, so that they can bring those good old-fashioned American values to new sets of problems,” Obama said. The former president didn’t pretend that righting the ship would be easy. He said the United States is much “more divided” than it was when he left office in 2017.

“I think it is true that we are more divided and that our democracy is more unstable than any time in my lifetime, not in American history, I mean, we did have a Civil War,” he said. “I would not have expected the legitimacy of an election and the peaceful transfer of power to have been challenged. I thought that was not something that would happen today.”

He added that Democrats and Republican lawmakers are discouraged from working together, making compromise a risky proposition. “You’ll hear voters asking, ‘Why can’t they just get along? Why can’t they get stuff done?’ The truth is, there are a bunch of structures that have been set up that don’t give them an incentive to work together. In fact, the opposite, they get punished,” he said.

more... https://www.salon.com/2025/12/02/get-out-of-the-way-obama-calls-on-old-folks-in-power-to-trust-young-activists-lawmakers/

[gab13by13]

1. Isn't that what David Hogg was doing

before they fired him?

[mcar]

9. Hogg was using his position in the DNC

to advocate for primarying Democrats so that he could further enrich himself and his organization.

I don't see where President Obama is doing that.

[ananda]

15. This hurts a lot more than what Republicans do...

because we expect it of them.

[Blue Full Moon]

32. That's not true. The ones he wanted primaried fits Obama's statement

[mcar]

33. Where is Obama calling for primarying incumbent Democrats?

Where is Obama profiting off primarying incumbent Democrats?

[cloudbase]

2. Good luck.

Very few people willingly cede power.

[mtngirl47]

10. Good luck.

Very few people willing to step up and do the work. Young people don’t appreciate fund raising and meetings. They aren’t interested in compromise. I will happily step down from my county position

[Blues Heron]

3. So skip gen X? Wtf. Boomers need to retire, but let's not go straight to the millennials ffs

[CBHagman]

6. Boomers aren't going anywhere...

...and as Jonathan Capehart observed the other week, we aren't hearing cries for Bernie Sanders to retire.

Government should be intergenerational. It's key to bring multiple perspectives, and institutional knowledge matters. President Biden was effective in ways some other leaders wouldn't have been able to pull off.

[SpankMe]

21. No one is suggesting a full geriatric purge

And Democratic leadership is not intergenerational at this stage. It is dominated by septuagenarians.

I agree with Obama. The decision-making, worldview, energy and tone of current Dem leadership is not keeping up with the times. It's time for people 70 and older to retire and pass the mantle to people 20 and 30 years younger who aren't sticks in the mud. And don't take umbrage about my use of "sticks in the mud" until you've watched a 20-minute long Chuck Schumer speech in the senate.

The fact that no one's asking Bernie to retire is not evidence that we're wrong about asking for the old generation to pass the torch. Bernie is an outlier. He's a young whipper-snapper in an old man's body.

Republicans have been "greening" for the last several electoral generations. Their SOCTUS picks have been in their 50's, and even 40's, so they can get 30 years of SCOTUS domination. Same with most of their judicial picks. They're supporting younger people for congress. They've been working on this for decades and are backloading the system with horrifically conservative stooges who have lifetime tenure. By stubbornly clinging to power, boomer Dems are hobbling our ability to compete for power.

[Jose Garcia]

23. Sanders is too old to be considered Boomer

He was born in 1941, so he is considered a member of the Silent Generation.

[CBHagman]

29. Exactly right, and so is President Biden.

But both are elders. I didn't mean to imply boomer was a catchall term for people over a certain age.

[angrychair]

24. It about the next generation

Perspective is great but doesn't mean they need to be in control of those decisions.
I mean we have 80+ year olds. I mean on the Republican side they had the chair of the appropriations committee was out of the public eye for 6 weeks before it became publicly known, by way of a newspaper reporter in her home town, that she had been in a memory care facility and her staff and likely others in Congress, like Johnson, had kept it secret.
Grassley says he plans to run again which would keep him in office past 100.

The point is there has to be a balance. The Democratic Caucus needs to stop giving leadership positions based on the age/seniority of the member and be a little more flexible. Like, fine, if the committee chair is older so be it but their deputy should be a younger person or at least not necessarily the next oldest/person with the next most seniority. Especially so if the younger person is studied on the subjects covered by the committee (like a public health person on a committee about public health)

[CBHagman]

30. I appreciate your perspective...

...and at heart, everything we do as Democrats/progressives is about the next generation (the analogy of planting a tree is useful here, with programs and policies meant to prevent problems and address needs—and be adjusted as leaders see how well they work or don't work).

I'm all for balance, and I would also point to one of Heather Cox Richardson's Politics Chats, in which she addressed the different roles within leadership. Here's the video I'm thinking of, and I recommend paying attention to what she says about 34 minutes in, which covers different skill sets.

She doesn't mention ageism, but I have been concerned that some people are writing off entire swaths of the population when coalitions matter.

[Renew Deal]

31. Bernie isn't going to cost us a Supreme Court seat

or control of the House. That being said, running for reelection at 86 would be crazy. If no one else is calling for it, let me be the first.

[Midwestern Democrat]

34. As a member of Gen X, I would say that my generation was too damned passive - a member of Gen X should have been in the

Democratic House leadership LONG before 2023 - it's like my generation of Democrats had none of the ambitious/aggressive "Young Man in a Hurry" quality in them. If they wind up getting passed over for millennials, it's their own damn fault.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

4. This old gal cannot recommend this idea enough.

AND rank choice voting asap please!

[Alliepoo]

11. Same!!

There might be some boomers that are ok to stick around but I agree with President Obama that the old timers ( and I’m pretty old, too) need to step aside for the younger folks that are rising. This is more their world and future than it is the older folks. The young’s also understand how to fight the modern battles much better than the olds. Gotta meet fire with fire and the young’s bring the necessary fire. I like the idea of ranked voting, too!

[moreland01]

12. And open primaries!

That's true democracy, in my opinion. But when you say "open primaries", even the Dems freak out that our power might be threatened. THAT is what Obama is referring to.

[Tetrachloride]

17. rank choice appears to be the proper way

[Arazi]

5. Tsk tsk, surely Obama isn't agreeing with David Hogg

Hasn't he heard he’s to be shunned and cast out?

Can’t have new ideas. Or new proposals

[LittleGirl]

7. I agree President Obama

I have been saying this since you were elected. Those 80-90 year old congress critters need to move along. They don't have a clue what the next generation can bring us.

These "For Life" benefits in Congress should entice them to resign but noooooo, they will hang on for dear life until they die. It's disgusting how we let this happen.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

8. President Obama is absolutely correct

Always trust a grassroots organizer (who became President twice) to have the pulse of the people!

[Fil1957]

13. Democratic party establishment! Are you listening!

[RobinA]

20. Yeah, They Are Listening

and then they look at the current crop running the country, most of whom would not qualify as "old" and realize there's no hope at all.

[Raven123]

14. All of the problems will be solved by younger leaders seems overly optimistic

I do agree on the need for a shift from the comfortable entrenched incumbents to representatives more in tune with current issues and perhaps ideas on how to address them, but it is not a panacea

[question everything]

16. And take me off your solicitation list

[DownriverDem]

18. Aren't Boomers

working campaigns and donating money? Don't we need everyone?

[RobinA]

19. Sooooo...

The next generation is bringing old fashioned American values? Would that be Pete Hegseth, born in 1980? Or Kristie Noem, age 54? Stephen Miller, born 1985? Elon Musk, also 54? J D Vance, born 1984? Karoline Leavitt, born 1997? I mean, the worst people out there right now with the exception of Trump and RFK are far younger than these "old people." Frankly, as an "old" person, the younger generation currently at the top of politics is looking pretty scary.

[CTyankee]

22. I trust President Obama. We should listen to him, one of our best Presidents ever.

[ColoringFool]

25. I'm 76, And I Say "Phooey!" To Obama, And His Implied Criticism.....

OF JOE BIDEN.

[displacedvermoter]

26. Like Rahm Emanuel trusted younger

Progressives when he was Obama's chief of staff? Very courteous and willing to listen, right?

[QueerDuck]

27. "In fact, the opposite, they get punished..."

He's right about that. Every time a reasonable Democrat tries to find common ground or compromise a little bit in order to actually GET a little bit... we hear a chorus of outrage from folks calling them DINO's and demanding that they be primaried and badgered. This is not an "age thing" it's a matter of unrealistic expectations and demands being made on our elected officials and people not understanding how government works... or blaming the party that's NOT in the majority. We need a smarter electorate... that would be a good start.

[gulliver]

28. This overlooks the fact that a public service career now sucks

When the oldsters started their careers, we didn't have Internet-enabled moron mobs and death threats. We could attract better people, because the job was better.

Now you really have to wonder where these "young genius volunteers" are who want to serve us all so badly. We've let the job become so bad that I'm afraid we're getting more and more into a "beggars can't be choosers" market for any form government leadership.

Remarkably, we still get a lot of folks stepping up to the plate, but how long can that last? We need the people to be better followers, imo.