Former President Barack Obama announced a return to the political arena with an initiative designed to “favorably position Democrats” by “combating partisan gerrymandering.”
Obama tweeted a message about a program known as Redistricting U, which is part of the All on the Line campaign.
That campaign is a merger of his Organizing for Action group along with former Attorney General Eric Holder’s National Redistricting Action Fund.
“I’ve always believed that training is at the heart of organizing,” Obama explained. “It’s why I made it a priority in my 2008 campaign and throughout our larger movement for change in the years since. The movement for fair maps will determine the course of progress on every issue we care about for the next decade.”
Fair maps — or favorable maps?
Holder warned in 2017 that Obama would be making a return to politics — and that his role would involve this effort to combat gerrymandering.
Related: Former Obama Aide Defends Trump Voters
“It’s coming. He’s coming,” Holder told reporters at an event for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. “And he’ll be ready to roll.”
Well, now he’s rolling …
Training is at the heart of organizing. It’s why I’ve always made it a priority – from my 2008 campaign until now. And it’s why I’m proud to announce @allontheline’s in-person training initiative, Redistricting U. Join us: https://t.co/yrWJ50wSdE pic.twitter.com/HiKvGd2XyE
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 26, 2019
Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) counters that the effort has little to do with opposition to drawing congressional districts based on partisan interests — and more to do with benefiting the Democrat Party.
If anyone tells you that @EricHolder is “fighting against gerrymandering” and for “fair maps,” just look at the form his organization filed with the IRS. The truth: their mission is to “FAVORABLY POSITION DEMOCRATS FOR THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS.” pic.twitter.com/1f6J2SnIlX
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) August 22, 2019
Fox News reports that Redistricting U is “focused on impacting the redrawing of congressional districts, which will take place in 2021 following the collection of data in the 2020 census.”
In other words, Democrats are OK with redrawing maps as long as it’s in their favor.
In Maryland, for instance, a three-judge federal court panel ruled that the state unconstitutionally drew the boundary lines to benefit Democrats after the 2010 census.
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, nominated by Obama in 2010, even asserted during oral arguments in a request to take up the case that Democrat efforts were “excessive.”
The 6th District of Maryland’s composition was flipped “from 47 percent Republicans and 36 percent Democrats to, instead, 45 percent Democrats and 34 percent Republicans, effectively ensuring that Republicans will never win this seat again,” she explained. “How is that not excessive?”
In June of 2018, he held private meetings in which he coached Democrat hopefuls about how they might beat Trump in 2020.
Did Obama ever really leave the political arena?
In June of 2018, he held private meetings in which he coached Democrat hopefuls about how they might beat Trump in 2020.
He met with a wide range of hopefuls such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), as well as with former Vice President Joe Biden.
He has perpetually badmouthed President Donald Trump since he left office, including comparing the political climate under the Trump administration to 1930s Nazi Germany.
George W. Bush exited the White House gracefully by not criticizing his successor or meddling in Republican political efforts — yet Obama seems unable to tamp down his ego enough to do the same.
This piece originally appeared in The Political Insider and is used by permission.
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