Obama: "But if I were running today, I wouldn't run the same race or...

[Hortensis]

have the same platform as I did in 2008.”

The Guardian: “You know, I could not be prouder of the incredible progress that we made together during my presidency,” Obama said in a video released Tuesday morning, in which he endorsed Joe Biden. “But if I were running today, I wouldn’t run the same race or have the same platform as I did in 2008.”

He added that now is not the time to simply “tinker around the edges with tax credits or underfunded programs.” While it’s important to “protect the gains we made with the Affordable Care Act,” he said, “it’s also time to go further. We should make plans affordable for everyone, provide everyone with a public option, expand Medicare, and finish the job so that health care isn’t just a right, but a reality for everybody.”

“We have to return the U.S. to the Paris agreement and lead the world in reducing the pollution that causes climate change,” he said. “But science tells us we have to go much further—that it’s time for us to accelerate progress on bold new green initiatives that make our economy a clean energy innovator, save us money, and secure our children’s future.”

If Obama was emphasizing in his video that it’s not enough to return to the policies of the Obama administration, it’s because the video was more than just an endorsement of Joe Biden. It was his first pitch-in to the cause of party unification. ... “We both know that nothing is more powerful than millions of voices calling for change,” Obama said. “And the ideas he’s (Sanders) championed, the energy and enthusiasm he inspired, especially in young people, will be critical in moving America in a direction of progress and hope. Because for the second time in 12 years, we’ll have the incredible task of rebuilding our economy. And to meet the moment, the Democratic Party will have to be bold.”

Obama also delivered perhaps his choicest words against President Donald Trump, and the Trump administration, since leaving office. Because one thing everybody has learned by now is that the Republicans occupying the White House and running the U.S. Senate are not interested in progress. They’re interested in power. They’ve shown themselves willing to kick millions off their health insurance and eliminate preexisting condition protections for millions more, even in the middle of this public health crisis, even as they’re willing to spend a trillion dollars on tax cuts for the wealthy. They’ve given polluters unlimited power to poison our air and our water and denied the science of climate change just as they denied the science of pandemics. Repeatedly, they’ve disregarded American principles of rule of law and voting rights and transparency—basic norms that previous administrations observed regardless of party. Principles that are the bedrock of our democracy.

So our country’s future hangs on this election. And it won’t be easy. The other side has a massive war chest. The other side has a propaganda network with little regard for the truth. On the other hand, pandemics have a way of cutting through a lot of noise and spin to remind us of what is real and what is important. This crisis has reminded us that government matters. It’s reminded us that good government matters. That facts and science matter. That the rule of law matters. That having leaders who are informed and honest and seek to bring people together rather than drive them apart—those kind of leaders matter.

And we see the future!

[SheltieLover]

1. 😍bama! 👏👏👏👏👏

Nailed it, as always!

[saidsimplesimon]

2. We also see the dead people

because "everything IT touches dies".

Thank you for sharing this.

[UncleNoel]

3. Ex-act-tly. Let's make IT burned toast!

[Tribetime]

4. I love Obama 😁

[npk]

5. God I love Obama and miss him so much

what a great man.

[Hortensis]

6. It's time for everyone to realize Biden is SERIOUS about climate.

His statements have been obscured by all the dirt and lying noise thrown up for that purpose. But past time for everyone to understand just what we're fighting FOR.

Btw, Senator Sanders let his entire campaign staff go, including his attack dogs. They're promising to do their thing, but someone else will be paying them.

[DallasNE]

7. Three Cheers

I'm surprised that Iran, trade/tariffs and the southern border didn't make the cut.

[Hortensis]

14. I'm sure they did, Dallas. Presidents have to handle foreign policy.

And of course that was a major part of the portfolio Obama had Biden working on.

But in this kickoff they understand that what Americans are most anxious about are our problems right here at home and focused on those.

[BigmanPigman]

8. I can barely read or watch him without crying in frustration.

The only time I have ever said out loud "I don't feel safe anymore" was Dec 2016 and realization had begun to sink in. Man, was I right. My gut instinct knew this was going to be very serious and dangerous four years for the country. I had never said those words before in my life, even during Reagun and both Bushes.

[quickesst]

9. Nicole Wallace....

.... played a short clip of Obama's endorsement for Joe Biden. As soon as it was completed she said....

"Watch the whole thing in case you forgot what a a real president sounds like."

Priceless.

[betsuni]

10. The second time in 12 years, we'll have to rebuild the economy.

I'm more hopeful that this time more people understand what Republicans do. Stop progress, turn the U.S. into a banana republic.

[Cha]

12. Or turn it into

a "shithole" per putin's orders.

That's how it looks to me.

[C Moon]

13. Wow. You're right! And it Trump didn't take long at all.

[Hortensis]

15. Actually, some RW powers started in earnest 40 years ago

when they managed to shift the electorate (voters!) to the right. But they started plotting and investing 20 years before that. They've been working on destroying liberalism and progressive advances all that time, and, as their goals have become more extreme and blatant, some of the people are finally aware. But only some. This isn't really their trap slamming shut and the ceiling fallen in, just perilously close.

[Caliman73]

19. Agreed. They have been working on this for a LONG time.

The wealthy, typically Republicans have been at this since the New Deal was signed into law. They hated FDR so much that they actually plotted a coup against him that for the fortitude of Smedley Butler, could have come to pass. FDR fundamentally changed the nature and purpose of the the Federal Government. Using Keynesian economics, he envisioned Social Democracy and saved Capitalism from itself as Europe descended into either totalitarian Communism under Stalin or into the various fascist regimes in Spain, Italy, and Germany. The minute those laws were written, Republicans began trying to tear them down. The war intervened and the boom of the post war years where the US was basically the only economy not left in ruins, kept the Republicans from going after social programs for some time.

Republicans know that their policies are ridiculous for the average person, that if their real ideas were exposed, that they would be a permanent minority party. There are not enough wealthy people to sustain a voter base, so they capitalized on the social unrest of the 50's and 60's and formed the coalition with the racists, sexists, xenophobes, religious bigots, and homophobes. They invested in media and began to manipulate facts and dispute reality, putting their followers into bubbles of ignorance and misinformation.

Many of the rest of us have either tuned out and focused on merely surviving, or feel scared about challenging the current paradigm. We are at a cross roads, not only as a country, but globally. We really need to consider what we want our future to be. If we continue down the current path of consumerism and unbridled capitalism, our future will be short and painful. We need to put people above profit and focus on building sustainable practices and improving ourselves rather than enriching ourselves.

[Tarheel_Dem]

20. Ditto! 👌🏾

[Cha]

11. Mahalo, President Obama.. excellently said!

Obama also delivered perhaps his choicest words against President Donald Trump, and the Trump administration, since leaving office. Because one thing everybody has learned by now is that the Republicans occupying the White House and running the U.S. Senate are not interested in progress. They’re interested in power. They’ve shown themselves willing to kick millions off their health insurance and eliminate preexisting condition protections for millions more, even in the middle of this public health crisis, even as they’re willing to spend a trillion dollars on tax cuts for the wealthy. They’ve given polluters unlimited power to poison our air and our water and denied the science of climate change just as they denied the science of pandemics. Repeatedly, they’ve disregarded American principles of rule of law and voting rights and transparency—basic norms that previous administrations observed regardless of party. Principles that are the bedrock of our democracy.

Thank you, Hortensis.. this is brilliant!

[Hortensis]

16. A huge problem is that most haven't known who our enemy is.

For decades they were told it was us, and too many believed it.

[Cha]

17. Right.. We're the ones who made the Democratic House

Victory Possible.. and are holding the Dictator at bay until we can Kick him the Hell OUT!

[Hortensis]

18. Well, that's because more people were finally wising up.

And only for that reason. Forty years of massive national campaigns to convince people that government and its Democratic protectors were corrupt and the cause of every problem had a big effect.

In 1996 during a matinee showing of Independence Day that we'd taken some boys to, when the aliens blew up the White House kids all over the theater erupted in cheers. I was shocked, but that attitude was inculcated by their parents and the prevailing anti-government culture that had replaced the liberal New Deal culture that built our great and diverse middle class. It's only gone downhill under conservative domination since then, and they're now in their 30s.