Then-President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden in 2016. Photo / AP file
Former President Barack Obama warned Democrats against being "complacent or smug" about the presidential race at a grassroots fundraiser today for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
He called on viewers to learn the lessons from 2016 and not take the election for granted.
Referencing what he called a "great awakening" going on among younger Americans pushing for reforms, Obama said that "just because this energy is out there does not mean that it assures our victory and it does not mean that it gets channelled in a way that results in real change."
He added: "There's a backlash, that is fierce, against change".
There are 175k people on this grassroots fundraiser with @JoeBiden and @BarackObama!!!
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) June 23, 2020
The former US President referenced the division among Americans that he said President Donald Trump "exploits," as well as new challenges to voting rights in recent years.
"We can't be complacent or smug or suggest that somehow it's so obvious that this president hasn't done a good job because, look, he won once, and it's not like we didn't have a good clue as to how he was going to operate the last time," Obama said.
He implored the audience to get engaged with Biden's presidential campaign, declaring that "whatever you've done so far is not enough."
On coronavirus, Trump claims Democrats "are trying to do their best to keep the country shut down and closed because they'd love those numbers not to be good, but there's not a lot they're going to be able to do about it." pic.twitter.com/iBwm15aEm8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 23, 2020
The fundraiser marked Obama's official return to the presidential campaign trail and underscored his unmatched popularity within the Democratic Party.
Biden, who appeared virtually alongside Obama at the event, said it raised more than US$11 million including $7.6m from more than 175,000 individual donors.
Trump's Dallas fundraiser earlier this month raised north of US$10m for the campaign, Republican National Committee and the Trump Victory Fund.
Today's event was a kickoff of what Obama's team says will likely be a busy schedule heading into the northern autumn, as he looks to help elect not just Biden but Democrats running for House and Senate.
“Love you Joe” - @BarackObama
— Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) June 23, 2020
“Love you too pal” - @JoeBiden pic.twitter.com/5LbCAZifVV
And his comments suggest Democrats are taking very seriously the possibility that their base could grow too comfortable in November, with a number of state and nationwide surveys showing Biden with significant, often double-digit leads over Trump.
Obama sometimes struggled to lift other Democratic candidates while he was in the White House, notably losing control of the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014.
But in the era of President Donald Trump, Democrats believe Obama's appeal, especially among black and younger voters, can help boost energy for Biden.
"There's two groups of voters that Biden needs to move," said Dan Pfeiffer, former White House communications director.
"You have the four million Obama 2012 voters that sat out in '16, Obama obviously has cache with them. And you have to persuade some number of voters who voted for Barack Obama in 2012 and either Trump or a third party candidate in 2016, and Obama obviously is very, very high-performing with those as well."
Updated fundraising total: Obama and Biden's reunion tonight raised more than $11 million, including $7.6m from 175,000 grassroots donors. Trump campaign had tried to dunk on Biden camp, touting the $10m it raised over the weekend around the Tulsa rally. https://t.co/KdezWGfQod
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) June 23, 2020
Indeed, during the fundraiser, Obama made a frequent pitch directly to young voters.
He told them he was "hopeful" about the new energy for reform he's seen within the younger generation but warning them not to get discouraged with a political process he said "is always going to be slower" and "less satisfactory" than engaging with a social movement through public demonstrations.
Obama endorsed Biden with a video message in April, but kept an otherwise low profile throughout the primary and largely avoided wading into national politics.
In recent weeks, however, he's re-emerged publicly to speak out on policing and the civil unrest that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Hi Tim. @JoeBiden and @BarackObama raised $11 million today. Which is more than $10 million. We also had 120k people at today’s event. Which is definitely more than 6200. You know, for those keeping track of such matters. https://t.co/9WnIPqtAkt
— TJ Ducklo (@TDucklo) June 23, 2020
Some Democrats say that, in the wake of Floyd's killing, Obama's voice as an advocate for Biden and a leader for the party is needed.
"Biden doesn't have the strongest record on criminal justice reform so having Obama there is helpful in reinforcing that issue," said Ben Tulchin, who polled for progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign.
"Given what's going on with criminal justice reform and Black Lives Matter, having the first African American president out there publicly backing Biden is extremely helpful."
But Obama's re-emergence is not without risks for Biden.
For Trump's campaign, it offers an opportunity to resurface some of their favourite political attacks — charges that the Obama Administration's policies undermined the American middle class and US interests abroad.
Tucked in the middle of his nearly two hour stand up in Tulsa, @realDonaldTrump betrayed his greatest fear about @JoeBiden.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) June 23, 2020
He’s a culturally inconvenient for Trump’s divisive message.
My cut on https://t.co/pkEjMZJdRQ.https://t.co/gxMb8WjH0F
They believe the focus on Obama will help reinvigorate Trump's base, and remind waffling Trump voters — those considering voting for Biden, or staying home — of their dissatisfaction with the prior administration.
And they see a potential opportunity to drive a wedge between Biden and his base by resurfacing issues from the Obama Administration — like the high rate of deportations — that riled progressives during the Democratic primary.
Trump campaign deputy communications director Ali Pardo said that together, Obama and Biden "put 'kids in cages' and failed to stop China from ripping off Americans while overseeing the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression and stagnant wage growth for American workers."
Defections against the president among Obama-Trump voters already look pivotal for states with many working-class whites, but the game-changer continues to be turning out 2016 third-party-supporters and non-voters https://t.co/RzrVBcCjEf
— G. Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris) June 22, 2020
Trump himself has pushed unfounded conspiracy theories about Obama, hoping to taint Biden by association.
Still, Democrats say Obama is eager to take Trump on to defend his legacy in a debate over whose policies have better benefited Americans.
"Trump's election just devastated the country and Obama's legacy," Tulchin said. "Beating Trump is important for his legacy and important for the country."
Biden's embrace of Obama during the Democratic primary created some headaches for the former vice-president within his own party as well.
Trump: "Nobody has been tough on China like I am…Under Obama and Biden, they got away with murder…What I’ve been doing to China should have been done a long time ago. Obama-Biden never…They just came in and it was pillage. It was terrible."https://t.co/ChCuao85rB
— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) June 19, 2020
Biden was criticised by some opponents as too focused on returning to the status quo of the Obama years at a time when the progressive base of the party was clamouring for significant structural change.
But by the end of the primary contest, at least five candidates — including Sanders — aired ads featuring praise from the former president or photos of the candidate alongside him.
And both Biden and Sanders have made overtures towards progressives, with Biden embracing some of Sanders' policies and Obama praising him by name in his endorsement video for Biden.
But Stephanie Cutter, who served as Obama's 2012 campaign manager, said that if Obama's re-emergence into the campaign raises any further debates about the policies of his Administration, he will be prepared to respond.
"There's nobody better to answer those questions than Obama," she said.
-AP
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