There’s been a longstanding tension between the Obama and Sanders camps. That tension was ramped up with a recent Politico piece claiming that Obama was ready to come forward to stop Sanders if it appeared that the socialist might have a shot at the nomination.
Back when Sanders seemed like more of a threat than he does now, Obama said privately that if Bernie were running away with the nomination, Obama would speak up to stop him.
When it comes to Sanders, I asked one close adviser whether Obama would really lay himself on the line to prevent a Sanders nomination. “I can’t really confirm that,” the adviser said. “He hasn’t said that directly to me. The only reason I’m hesitating at all is because, yeah, if Bernie were running away with it, I think maybe we would all have to say something. But I don’t think that’s likely. It’s not happening.” (Another close Obama friend said, “Bernie’s not a Democrat.”)
Obama’s recent Democracy Alliance appearance conveyed the same message without naming names.
Bernie isn’t dumb enough to attack Obama personally. Nor are his campaign surrogates. But the Sandernistas are another matter.
The biggest explosion took place at Jacobin Mag where stories like, “The Real Barack Obama Has Finally Revealed Himself” quickly popped up.
“Surprise (not): right-wing neoliberal sellout Barack Obama is privately working to try to prevent Bernie Sanders from becoming the presidential candidate — when he’s not getting $400,000 for each Wall Street speech & water skiing with billionaire oligarchs,” Grayzone’s Ben Norton tweeted.
“Hard to think of a bigger disappointment than Obama. He was elected by the largest grassroots movement in history on a promise of change, abandoned all that while in office, and cashed in after 8 years, leaving 40% of America struggling to afford basics,” Walter Bragman tweeted.
Amir Amini tweeted, “In case you still had any doubts: Barack Obama is working really hard to re-elect Donald Trump. He backstabbed the American people in 2016 but has decided to frontstab voters in 2020.”
“I’m not sure Obama knew what he was getting himself into by plotting to interfere with the primary process to stop Bernie, but it’s about time an honest discussion of his horrendous record took place. If your response to this is “but Trump!” then you’ve already lost the argument,” Aaron Kincer tweeted.
“We all knew that Obama hates Sanders. Remember when Keith Ellison had support to be the next DNC chair and because he supported Sanders, Obama inserted Tom Perez in the race so Democrats don’t lose the party to the left? Obama has stabbed us in the back so many times,” Tania Singh tweeted.
“I’m proud to say I support a Bernie Sanders presidency over Obama’s. He gave us a historical moment, now it’s time for historical policies. Sit back & let this play out Mr. President! We won’t let you stop nothing, take Joe and the rest of your moderates and start your own party,” Ja’Mal Green tweeted.
These are not random Twitter users. Some of them are political operatives and Democrat figures.
This should be considered in light of the survey that only 61% of Sanders voters are likely to vote for the nominee if he isn’t Bernie.
The Democrats have allowed the Left to poison and hijack their party. It’s corporate raider pump and dump applied on an ideological level. The question is will Democrats wake up before they get Corbynized.
Leave a Reply