Former President Barack Obama told Democrats Thursday that they have a “right to be concerned” over the state of the U.S. right now, but also warned that they need to stop looking back at his presidency if they want to move the party forward.
“Do not wait for the perfect message, don’t wait to feel a tingle in your spine because you’re expecting politicians to be so inspiring and poetic and moving that somehow, ‘OK, I’ll get off my couch after all and go spend the 15-20 minutes it takes for me to vote,’” Obama said, according to Politico. “Because that’s part of what happened in the last election. I heard that too much.”
Obama made his comments while speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in his first public remarks in months. A small number of reporters were allowed into the event, and they could not bring cameras.
“If we don’t vote, then this democracy doesn’t work,” Obama continued. The former president even laid partial blame on his presidency for distracting the public.
“I’ll be honest with you, if I have a regret during my presidency, it is that people were so focused on me and the battles we were having, particularly after we lost the House, that folks stopped paying attention up and down the ballot,” Obama said.
The fundraiser was the first of three Obama is participating in this week in California. Two more are scheduled for Friday in San Francisco — one for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the other for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
