Leaderless Democratic Party Looks Back To Obama

The Democratic Party has suffered greatly in 2017 from the internal chaos that comes with having no leader. Some like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have attempted to stake their claim, but none has moved beyond a fraction of the party.

Perhaps nothing personifies the Democratic Party’s bleak prospects than Barack Obama coming back in to fill the Party’s leaderless void. According to The Hill, Obama is planning to “re-emerge on the national scene this fall”:

“Aides will huddle with Obama in the coming weeks to plot out what shape the former president’s fall schedule will take. Advisers close to him say that while he will play an active role in helping his party rebuild, much of his work will be behind the scenes. He is likely to take on fundraising, for example, something he has done for the Democratic National Committee and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee since leaving office.”

Obama’s continued presence on the national stage could have serious consequences for the Party’s future. According to one expert, Obama’s re-emergence will “suck up all the available oxygen,” and harm the Democratic Party’s 2020 and 2024 efforts:

“Jillson said that a light Obama footprint on the national stage could allow breathing room for future Democratic leaders to emerge. ‘He’ll tread lightly because he is not going to be the face of the party when it actually counts in 2020 and 2024,’ Jillson added. ‘So the extent to which he would emerge and speak to a wide range of issues would preclude the emergence of someone else. They must find a standard bearer for future elections and I think he can at least in the short term suck up all the available oxygen.’”

Another Democratic strategist quoted in The Hill said Obama’s move suggests that Democrats “remain stuck in the past”:

“’It’s wise for both Clinton and Obama to hang back at this point,’ one Democratic strategist said. ‘Otherwise our party will have an even harder time rebounding. ‘We already lack a party leader, we lack a vision, we lack an identity,’ the strategist said bluntly. ‘We can’t remain stuck in the past.’”

Barack Obama will never again appear on a ballot. The fact that the Democratic Party is still choosing to rely on him to such a great extent speaks poorly for its future.