Obama is back — back from an extended post-presidency vacation, and now back on the national stage. Former President Barack Obama made his first public appearance since President Trump’s inauguration Tuesday at the University of Chicago.
As I watched Obama’s remarks, I waited with anticipation to see if he would drop the T-bomb. Would he bring up Trump? Inquiring minds wanted to know. It is no secret that Obama is not a fan of his successor and that he also campaigned vigorously for Hillary Clinton. So, one could assume that Obama would have used his return to the public forum to take some shots at Trump. To my pleasant surprise, Obama seemed to take the sage advice of his wife Michelle: “When they go low, you go high.”
Obama mentioned neither Trump nor his policies. No mud was thrown. No acrimony was detected. Instead, Obama chose to focus his remarks on the future of civic engagement. His message was aspirational, inclusive and real. He engaged young people from all walks of life discussing how to better attract the next generation into public service and community involvement. Obama made a point of emphasizing the necessity to move past individual differences in order to find common ground. He insisted that focusing on our common values was the bedrock of finding solutions to our nation’s most pressing problems.
I’m sure there are some fellow Democrats that are none too pleased that Obama passed up an opportunity to eviscerate Trump in public. I, however, think Obama did the right thing. His message of unity and pragmatism is desperately needed at a time when our nation is so polarized. His investment in the next generation is a smart long-term play to develop a new crop of leaders willing to leave their chosen echo chamber to actually improve our country.
Obama presented himself as a true statesman rather than a petty politician. He seemed to have returned to his original 2004 Democratic National Convention message that catapulted him from being a state senator in Illinois to the highest office in the land just four years later: hope, change and unity.
Americans are yearning to appeal to our better angels after such a bitter political season that never seems to end. I think our current lawmakers, and frankly the leadership of the DNC, should take note of how Obama conducted himself on Monday. It’s good politics to “go high.” More importantly, it’s good for our country and our future.
Capri Cafaro (@thehonorablecsc) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a former member of the Ohio State Senate, where she was the Senate minority leader. She is now an Executive in Residence at American University’s School of Public Affairs.
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