In a new interview, former President Barack Obama admits that some of his fellow Democrats can be the proverbial sticks in the mud.
During an appearance on the “Pod Save America” podcast, Obama talked about his early challenges in relating the importance of policy decisions to the American public from behind a podium, as opposed to face to face in a crowd.
Obama said the general public wants to know how political decisions relate to the things they “care most deeply about.”
The former commander-in-chief then listed what some of those things are for him. “My family, my kids, work that gives me satisfaction, having fun. Hell, not being a buzzkill,” Obama said, adding “and sometimes Democrats are.”
“Sometimes people just want to not feel as if they are walking on eggshells, and they want some acknowledgment that life is messy and that all of us, at any given moment, can say things the wrong way, make mistakes,” Obama continued.
He also warned his fellow Democrats to spend less time focusing on the man who followed him in the Oval Officer, ex-President Donald Trump. And he offered a number of topics he believes potential voters would rather hear them discuss, including out-of-control crime, high gas prices and record inflation.
“The thing that I think sometimes we seem to make a mistake on, is his behavior can be so outrageous, and now, folks who try to copy him and his outrageous behaviors [are] getting a lot of attention,” Obama said of the man who has fashioned himself as something of Obama’s nemesis. “And so, we join that game, and we spend enormous amounts of time and energy and resources pointing out the latest crazy thing he said, or how rude or mean some of these Republican candidates behave.”
“That’s probably not something that, in the minds of most voters, overrides their basic interests: Can I pay the rent? What are gas prices? How am I dealing with childcare?” Obama said.
The former President has a busy schedule ahead of him as mid-term elections approach, with campaign dates scheduled in Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin booked to try and aid Democrats running tight races.
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