Tensions are still escalating at the border, and former President Barack Obama is noticeably missing from the political circus. The Democrats are quietly complaining that Obama hasn’t done anything for them lately.
In an in-depth article by NY magazine, the writer details the hand-wringing and increasing anxiety among Democratic Party members who are desperate for leadership going into the 2018 midterm elections.
As one leading Democratic operative put it: “If [Obama] were willing to go way over the line and get arrested, or something way out there, that would be a galvanizing event.”
According to NY mag, Obama is modeling his post-presidential life after former President George W. Bush, who stays out of sight, at home, painting pretty landscapes.
Obama is focused on three things: saving his legacy, writing his memoirs, and raising cash for his Obama Foundation and his presidential center and museum in Chicago. All three of those things involve himself.
Obama busies himself meeting with deep pocket supporters who fork over millions of dollars to build public monuments to himself.
Multiple people familiar with the fund-raising conversations said it’s currently aiming to bring in between $500 million and $1 billion, and that when Obama meets with major potential donors, his asks can sometimes reach $10 million or $20 million.
But not everyone is happy about Obama’s self-serving fundraising efforts. Obama has not raised a dollar for the Democratic National Committee heading into the midterms.
“The donor universe that we operate in is limited. It’s the same usual suspects that everyone is going to, whether it’s the House, or the Senate, or these new outside groups, or super-PACs,” grumbled one top party fund-raiser who has been told by multiple potential donors that the well is dry after they donated to Obama’s foundation.
The frustrated Democrat added: “Most, if not all, of them were previously Obama supporters, and we’re counting on them for something more important right now than a library in Chicago. Nobody expects him to be out there bashing Trump or being on the campaign trail every day. But to be sucking up resources now is just tone-deaf, and self-serving.”
*Bold emphasis mine
