Obama Privately Considered Leading 'Stop-Bernie Campaign' to Combat Sanders 2020 Surge: Report

This makes me feel sick. And furious at the extreme betrayal of this man I once believed in and worked to get elected. Never did I dream then that Barack Obama would become the danger to humanity and life on Earth that he is today. But this is the reality. Anyone in positions of power who actively opposes the one candidate who... (I just had to stop and weep...) is mobilizing millions to transform our ourselves and our nation to one that is life affirming rather than engaged in a death spiral... is acting out of the darkest forces. Just the darkest. And, I'm feeling this grief,... that Obama is among them. My heart is absolutely broken. I do not want this to be so. But it is. 

And my commitment to truth and to placing principles before personalities is fierce and unrelenting. Damn! And I'm mad as hell! How dare he or anyone put the lives of my children and tiny grandchildren at risk! How dare Obama be among the powerful forces that are fighting change, giving us fascists like Trump, maintaining the status quo, exasperating the climate and ecological crises, and bringing on our extinction! How dare he! 

Again and again and again, I am committed to exposing these painful dark realities because I know that if there is to be any chance of the radical changes that are needed to save ourselves occurring, that we must illuminate what is false, what is dark, what is standing in the way of peace, sustainability, justice, transformation, and a livable planet for my children and yours and all beings. Obama and all who with great intention work to be complicit with the forces of death must be stopped. They must. It's our only chance. Everything we love and cherish is at stake. — Molly

"From lofty heights, Obama has now become a dampener of hope, a barrier to change, and a threat to progress."

By

Jake Johnson

Former President Barack Obama reportedly told advisers behind closed doors earlier this year that he would actively oppose Sen. Bernie Sanders if the progressive senator from Vermont opened up a big lead in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race.

"Publicly, [Obama] has been clear that he won't intervene in the primary for or against a candidate," Politico reported Tuesday. "There is one potential exception: 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."

Progressives viewed Obama's comments as further evidence that the former president, who was elected in 2008 on the soaring promise of "hope and change," is now using his influence on the Democratic Party to undercut the grassroots push for transformational policies like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.

"Obama's post-presidency is grating and full of contradictions," tweeted David Klion, news editor at Jewish Currents. "He considers himself the leader of the party but refuses to lead. He considers himself a success but the mere fact of Trump's presidency belies this. He won on hope and counsels hopelessness."

One anonymous Obama adviser would not confirm to Politico that Obama "would really lay himself on the line to prevent a Sanders nomination."

Please continue this article here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/26/obama-privately-considered-leading-stop-bernie-campaign-combat-sanders-2020-surge