Obama worries about progressives' 'rigidity' leading to 'circular firing squad' among Democratic Par

[BlueFlorida]

Washington (CNN)Former President Barack Obama said on Saturday he worries about the far-left, progressive wing of the Democratic party being unwilling to compromise and creating a "circular firing squad" against allies over policy and issue differences.

"One of the things I do worry about sometimes among progressives in the United States, maybe it's true here as well, is a certain kind of rigidity where we say, 'Uh, I'm sorry, this is how it's going to be,' and then we start sometimes creating what's called a 'circular firing squad,' where you start shooting at your allies because one of them is straying from purity on the issues," Obama said a town hall in Berlin, Germany, hosted by the Obama Foundation.

The Democratic former president argued that this party infighting usually leads to "the overall effort and movement weaken(ing)."

"You have to recognize that the way we've structured democracy requires you to take into account people who don't agree with you, and that by definition means you're not going to get 100 percent of what you want," Obama said.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/06/politics/obama-progressive-party-democrats/index.html


Obama is absolutely right. Some candidates' "my way or highway" rhetoric is detrimental to our winning prospects.

[Voltaire2]

1. Aiming left

As part of the problem he is complaining about?

How about we focus on the common enemy instead.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. Unneeded, unwelcome advice

The people will decide how progressive they want their nominee and platform to be.

[walkingman]

5. Sounds good but losing to Trump again would be much much worse. Keep that in mind.

[Voltaire2]

12. So last time we "veered left"?

I didn’t know that.

[walkingman]

13. Agreed - I think we do need to move left compared to Obama but if it means losing the election..Not

worth it. Win the election at all costs and then let Congress pass a more Progressive agenda.

[Cha]

14. Too bad.. President Obama gave it anyway..

he knows from experience..

Link to tweet

Second, a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters weren’t big fans of Clinton. So Stein campaigning on the idea that Clinton and Trump were similar made it harder for Clinton to win over those voters — even if Sanders voters didn’t vote for Stein, they may have stayed home out of disgust.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/jill-stein-democratic-spoiler-or-scapegoat/


"The Liberal Case Against Bernie"

Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential candidacy poses a conundrum for progressives. Not since 1936, when Franklin Roosevelt said that he “welcomed” the hatred of corporate interests, has a serious presidential candidate offered so aggressive a challenge to the conservative powers that be. At the same time, however, a dangerous lunatic is president of the United States, and Sanders, of all the major Democratic contenders, is the one who will make Donald Trump’s reelection most likely. Eight years of a Trump presidency could mean the end of meaningful democracy in the United States, along with many of the rights that women, minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ people, and others now take for granted.

Let me clarify: I’ve been a fan and supporter of Sanders ever since he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in 1981. I was honored to be asked to testify before him in Congress years ago, and I voted for him in the New York presidential primary in 2016. I did so, however, not because I imagined he might win the nomination, but because I hoped that a strong showing by Sanders would help wake up Hillary Clinton to the importance of addressing economic inequality, and also to honor his brave criticism of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

I was wrong. Sanders turned so negative toward Clinton that it hurt her in the general election. Even though he campaigned for her after he lost the nomination, roughly 12 percent of Sanders’s supporters switched to Trump, and enough of the rest supported Jill Stein’s kamikaze candidacy that it helped tip key states to Trump.

I see he's into reality.

https://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-electability-eric-alterman/

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=42334

[HopeAgain]

3. just as long

as people understand that meeting in the middle should be between left progressives and centrist Democrats, not slightly to the left of the middle between republicans and Democrats.

In other words, I hear about progressive rigidity, but there is centrist rigidity as well.

[pangaia]

8. "centrist rigidity"- ABSOLUTELY

I do not agree at all with Obama on this... circular firing squad.. possible; but a circle includes ALL including moderates, centrists, whatever the term..

[Celerity]

16. +1000

[stonecutter357]

4. Obama is right.

[4now]

6. Can't say this enough

[Andy823]

7. He used the phrase

"circular firing squad", kind of sounds like what has been going on here on the primaries board!

[SFnomad]

10. It worked so well around here last time ... let's try it again !!!! n/t

[Peacetrain]

9. Yes President Obama.. so true..and we all miss you!!

You will go down in history as one of the finest persons to hold that job... and that you literally saved the country..

[colsohlibgal]

11. I Don't Worry

The more progressive the better for me. Every step right from that means shafting the non filthy rich a little bit more in my book.

[Cha]

15. President Obama knows what he's talking about..

Link to tweet

Second, a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters weren’t big fans of Clinton. So Stein campaigning on the idea that Clinton and Trump were similar made it harder for Clinton to win over those voters — even if Sanders voters didn’t vote for Stein, they may have stayed home out of disgust.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/jill-stein-democratic-spoiler-or-scapegoat/


"The Liberal Case Against Bernie"

Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential candidacy poses a conundrum for progressives. Not since 1936, when Franklin Roosevelt said that he “welcomed” the hatred of corporate interests, has a serious presidential candidate offered so aggressive a challenge to the conservative powers that be. At the same time, however, a dangerous lunatic is president of the United States, and Sanders, of all the major Democratic contenders, is the one who will make Donald Trump’s reelection most likely. Eight years of a Trump presidency could mean the end of meaningful democracy in the United States, along with many of the rights that women, minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ people, and others now take for granted.

Let me clarify: I’ve been a fan and supporter of Sanders ever since he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in 1981. I was honored to be asked to testify before him in Congress years ago, and I voted for him in the New York presidential primary in 2016. I did so, however, not because I imagined he might win the nomination, but because I hoped that a strong showing by Sanders would help wake up Hillary Clinton to the importance of addressing economic inequality, and also to honor his brave criticism of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

I was wrong. Sanders turned so negative toward Clinton that it hurt her in the general election. Even though he campaigned for her after he lost the nomination, roughly 12 percent of Sanders’s supporters switched to Trump, and enough of the rest supported Jill Stein’s kamikaze candidacy that it helped tip key states to Trump.

I see he's into reality.

https://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-electability-eric-alterman/

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=42334