The American presidential campaign season never really ends; it merely slows down or accelerates. Just as many opponents of President Donald Trump began to consider how he might be removed from office on the day he took office, so too the people wanting to take his place began their campaign the day former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election.
The Obamas are making another bid for power.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama is undoubtedly one of those—though you won’t hear her admit to the aspiration. Quite the contrary, the woman who is reportedly the most admired in the world, and has insisted that there is “zero chance” she would seek the presidency, continues to insist that she doesn’t want the job, wouldn’t want the hassle, and can’t imagine the dislocation to her life.
But if you want to predict what one Obama will do, watch what the other is doing.
Former President Barack Obama has spent the last three years growing increasingly antagonistic towards the Trump presidency, repudiating the long-standing tradition of former presidents not lecturing the sitting President about their job performance. Although he doesn’t frequently mention President Trump by name, the purpose of his ominous warnings—that America is entering a new Dark Age under the current president—is easy to discern.
The Obamas are making another bid for power.
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Deval Patrick, former Governor of Massachusetts.[/caption]
PATRICK FOR PRESIDENT?
Barack Obama has resolutely refused to endorse any presidential candidate, including Biden, who served by his side for eight years. In fact, the only politician that Obama has endorsed recently is Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It feels like the Democrats have either thrown in the towel, or are completely out of touch with the American electorate.
While apparently thumbing his nose at Biden, Obama has reportedly welcomed the entry of former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick into the race—though Obama must know that the man is an unknown quantity to most people living outside of the state. Patrick had to cancel an event recently when only a handful of people appeared.
Still, Patrick’s obvious mediocrity does not make him an abnormal candidate. Looking at the crop of candidates fighting for the Democratic nomination, one is underwhelmed: these are second and third-rate politicians. Former Vice President Joe Biden continues to lead this pack of non-entities, as he continues ignore the host of issues encumbering his candidacy, including his advanced age and his son Hunter's no-show board position at Burisma.
Senator Elizabeth Warren lost half of her support in the last month, according to one poll; perhaps all that talk about a $52 trillion Medicare for All plan is not helping. Then there’s the mayor of a backwater town in Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, who somehow continues to convince Democrats that his modest experience makes him presidential material. He cannot win, of course, because he has almost zero support among black Democrats who are less than supportive of his marriage. Oh yes—and there’s Senator Bernie Sanders who continues to claim that he is ready and willing to lead the class war and terminate capitalism. It feels like the Democrats have either thrown in the towel, or are completely out of touch with the American electorate.
But perhaps there’s another option; maybe we haven’t seen all the players yet.
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Michelle Obama.[/caption]
SETTING THE STAGE FOR MICHELLE OBAMA'S ENCORE
Barack Obama, who has spent a lifetime nurturing left-wing causes, has apparently gained a profound political maturity in the last few years.
"The average American doesn't think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it."
Obama has donned the mantle of elder statesman, expressing his agitation at the Democratic Party’s egregious lurch to the left: He’s suggested that socialist pie in the sky policies are naive: "Even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision, we also have to be rooted in reality," Obama said during a fundraising event. "The average American doesn't think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it."
Between the lines, Obama’s words are damning for the current Democratic forerunners; he’s more or less proclaimed that his party is not the party of Warren and Sanders, and neither of the two could hope to merit his blessing. As for Biden, who has assiduously worked at honing his progressive patter, it has apparently been for nothing. The former president has ignored Biden’s campaign and perhaps hopes that his former running mate will just quietly fade away, or perhaps get lost somewhere between campaign events.
The Democratic Party might resemble an amateur theatrical production without a star. Still, with a producer like Barack Obama stepping into management, the New Year might be when the real action begins, with Michelle Obama as the lead.
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The Obama Family.[/caption]
AS AMERICAN AS DYNASTIC RULE
For politicians like Obama—either Obama—politics really isn’t just about imposing an ideology on America; it’s also about wielding power over Americans. And for these two, leftist politics and power work in unison. Obama, who has always been about giving the state its due, is now leveraging his aggrandizing for the sake of personal power. And what both Barack and Michelle Obama are missing right now is the power that only the highest office in the land can offer.
I don’t think we’ll have to wait long before Michelle Obama announces her bid for the presidency.
