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      Barack Obama reacts to attack on 'good friend' Paul Pelosi – video

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      At a rally in Georgia, Barack Obama commented on the violent attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband. The former US president said Paul Pelosi was a ‘good friend’ and condemned politicians who ‘stir up division to make folks as angry and as afraid of one another … for their own advantage’.
      Pelosi was attacked with a hammer after an intruder entered his home in San Francisco, demanding to see his wife, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who was in Washington. The attack has prompted fears of growing political violence in the US before the midterm elections on 8 November

      Paul Pelosi in hospital with skull fracture after attack

      Attack heightens fears of increasing US political violence More

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      Man who attacked speaker’s husband Paul Pelosi facing attempted homicide charge – live

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      Bill Scott, chief of the San Francisco police department, said the suspect in the attack on Paul Pelosi will face charges of attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon, among others.In a brief press conference where he took no questions, Scott recounted what officers saw when they arrived at the Pelosi residence around 2.27am today to respond to a welfare call.“When the officers arrived on scene, they encountered an adult male and [M] Pelosi’s husband, Paul. Our officers observed Mr Pelosi and the suspect both holding a hammer. The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it. Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid,” Scott said.The chief identified the suspect as 42-year-old David Depape. In addition to attempted homicide, he’ll also face charges of “elder abuse, burglary, and several other additional felonies”, Scott said.Julián Castro, the former Democratic presidential candidate and housing secretary, is calling for more security for Nancy Pelosi after the attack on the speaker’s husband.Protection is provided to family members of the President and VP but not to family of the Speaker of the House. That’s not good enough at a time when too many people, moved by hatred and paranoia stoked by Trump and right-wing media, embrace violence as a means to achieve power.— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) October 28, 2022
      Paul Pelosi has undergone a successful surgery for a skull fracture and “serious injuries” to his arm and hands, a spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.“Earlier this morning, Paul Pelosi was attacked at home by an assailant who acted with force, and threatened his life while demanding to see the Speaker,” Drew Hammill said. “Mr Pelosi was admitted to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital where he underwent successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands. His doctors expect a full recovery. “The Speaker and her family are thankful for the outpouring of support and prayers from friends, constituents and people around the country. The Pelosi family is immensely grateful to Mr Pelosi’s entire medical team and the law enforcement officers who responded to the assault. The family appreciates respect for their privacy during this time.”A relative of David DePape, the suspect in the attack against Paul Pelosi, said the 42-year-old has mental health issues and refused contact with family, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.Ron DePape, who said David DePape is a stepson of his brother’s from a previous marriage, told the newspaper: “We don’t have any contact with him and just feeling sad and sorry for the Pelosi family.” “It’s just a sad event. It has to be mental health issues that he’s been carrying around I would think.” The British Columbia resident told the San Francisco Chronicle that David DePape lived there but left “at an early age” to move to the US with a girlfriend: “He refused contact with any family. He just kind of disappeared.”David DePape appears to have an online blog filled with conspiracy theories about the government, media and tech companies, and appeared to be a follower of the QAnon conspiracy theory, according to the newspaper. Republican Adam Kinzinger, a January 6 committee member, on the attack on Paul Pelosi:This morning’s terrifying attack on Paul Pelosi by a man obsessed with election conspiracies is a dangerous reality encouraged by some members of my own party.I’m thankful he will be okay. This must be condemned by every Member of Congress & candidate. Now. @SpeakerPelosi— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) October 28, 2022
      Congressman Bill Pascrell has described the attack on Paul Pelosi as an assassination attempt and blamed “big lies from many Republicans” for the violence.The congressman said in a statement Friday:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“This assassination attempt never should have happened. This guy has a background that shows he’s been moved, instigated, and influenced by those people who seek to divide us. Turn on rightwing media on any given day or night. You will see frothing hosts shrieking unspeakable lies and unfounded conspiracy theories about women, religious and ethnic minorities, city residents, young people and scores of others Americans. That some are radicalized to commit unspeakable violence against their perceived enemies cannot be a surprise. This terrorism is growing and threatens every community in America.”Early reports found that Pelosi’s attacker, David Depape, had embraced conspiracy theories about January 6, the 2020 election and Covid in online posts.I’m Dani Anguiano and I’ll be taking over our live blog for the remainder of the day.House speaker Nancy Pelosi is heading to San Francisco following the attack on her husband Paul Pelosi, Punchbowl News reports:Also: PELOSI is en route to SF. https://t.co/NalnyAiChv— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 28, 2022
      While the Capitol police are scrambling to provide extra security to family members of congressional leadership after the attack, CBS News says the agency has been facing a months-long deluge of threats to lawmakers:There were nearly 10,000 investigations into threats against Members of Congress …. last year alonePer our @CBSNews reporting— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 28, 2022
      The Guardian’s Dani Anguiano is now taking over this blog, and will cover the latest developments in this breaking story over the remainder of the day.NBC Bay Area reports Paul Pelosi is recovering from surgery on his head at a hospital in San Francisco.Previously, hospital sources had said he was undergoing brain surgery.Years before he reportedly embraced conspiracy theories and was accused of attacking House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, David DePape was associated with a uniquely San Francisco cause, according to Mission Local.The news site reports he was involved in protests against San Francisco’s anti-nudity ordinance, held about a decade ago in the Castro neighborhood:My sources also name the suspect in this morning’s hammer attack on Paul Pelosi as David DePape, born 1980, of Berkeley. He would appear to be a former Castro nudist protester. Things appear set to be bizarre for a while.— Joe Eskenazi (@EskSF) October 28, 2022
      His name is mentioned in some coverage from that episode. The San Francisco Chronicle has someone they identify as “David Depape” pictured alongside pro-nudity activist Gypsy Taub in 2013.In coverage of the protests from the same year, the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center names DePape as a photographer, spelling his surname “dePape”.The United States will next week put the United Nations spotlight on protests in Iran sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody and look for ways to promote credible, independent investigations into Iranian human rights abuses.The US and Albania will hold an informal UN security council gathering on Wednesday, according to a note outlining the event, seen by Reuters.Iranian Nobel peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and Iranian-born actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi are set to brief..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The meeting will highlight the ongoing repression of women and girls and members of religious and ethnic minority groups in Iran.
      It will identify opportunities to promote credible, independent investigations into the Iranian government’s human rights violations and abuses,” the note said.An independent UN investigator on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, is also due to address the meeting, which can be attended by other UN member states and rights groups.Iran has been gripped by protests since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody last month. The unrest has turned into a popular revolt by Iranians from all layers of society, posing one of the boldest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution.Iran has blamed its foreign enemies and their agents for the unrest..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The meeting will underscore ongoing unlawful use of force against protesters and the Iranian regime’s pursuit of human rights defenders and dissidents abroad to abduct or assassinate them in contravention of international law,” read the note about the planned meeting.Rights groups have said at least 250 protesters have been killed and thousands arrested across the country. Women have played a prominent part in the protests, removing and burning veils.The deaths of several teenage girls reportedly killed during protests have fuelled more anger.UN secretary general António Guterres has called on Iranian security forces to refrain from unnecessary or disproportionate force against protesters and appealed to all to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation.Iran: deaths reported as security forces open fire on protesters in ZahedanRead moreTop House Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi is recovering from an assault by a hammer-wielding intruder who broke into their home and shouted “where is Nancy?” Coming less than two years after the deadly January 6 attack on the Capitol, the incident underscores the continued threat of political violence in the United States as voters prepare to cast ballots in the 8 November midterm elections.Here’s what else has happened today:
      Elon Musk completed his purchase of Twitter, but there are no signs that he has lifted the ban on Donald Trump – yet.
      Big name Democrats are out campaigning today to revive the party’s chances ahead of the midterms, including Barack Obama in Georgia, and Bernie Sanders in Nevada.
      Joe Biden stuck to his usual talking points in an interview yesterday, but sounded skeptical of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s insistence that he wasn’t planning to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
      David DePape, the 42-year-old man accused of attempted homicide and other charges for allegedly assaulting Paul Pelosi, has embraced conspiracy theories in online posts, CNN reports:.@SFPD identified the alleged attacker as 42-year-old David DePape. @CNN reached two of the man’s relatives who told CNN he is estranged from his family. A review of his FB page shows he posted memes and conspiracy theories about Covid, the 2020 election, and the 1/6 attack.— Whitney Wild (@WhitneyWReports) October 28, 2022
      Here’s more from the network:CNN looked through the attackers social media. He posted YouTube videos concerned about the 2020 election and January 6th committee. Posted a lot of theories COVID origins and January 6th pic.twitter.com/JnhD8wPJmr— Acyn (@Acyn) October 28, 2022
      Bill Scott, chief of the San Francisco police department, said the suspect in the attack on Paul Pelosi will face charges of attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon, among others.In a brief press conference where he took no questions, Scott recounted what officers saw when they arrived at the Pelosi residence around 2.27am today to respond to a welfare call.“When the officers arrived on scene, they encountered an adult male and [M] Pelosi’s husband, Paul. Our officers observed Mr Pelosi and the suspect both holding a hammer. The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it. Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid,” Scott said.The chief identified the suspect as 42-year-old David Depape. In addition to attempted homicide, he’ll also face charges of “elder abuse, burglary, and several other additional felonies”, Scott said.The San Francisco police department is beginning its press conference on the attack on Paul Pelosi.Follow along here for updates.House Republican Whip Steve Scalise has joined in condemning the attack on Paul Pelosi:Disgusted to hear about the horrific assault on Speaker Pelosi’s husband Paul. Grateful for law enforcement’s actions to respond.Let’s be clear: Violence has no place in this country. I’m praying for Paul Pelosi’s full recovery.— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 28, 2022
      In 2017, Scalise was shot when a gunman opened fire at a congressional baseball team practice in Virginia.Virginia shooting: gunman was leftwing activist with record of domestic violenceRead moreCNN is reporting more violent details of the attack on Paul Pelosi:More from @jamiegangel: The man who assaulted Paul Pelosi tried to tie him up “until Nancy got home,” according to two sources familiar with the situation.  When the police arrived, the assailant said he was “waiting for Nancy.” https://t.co/yAZdHrM7Hk— Kristin Wilson (@kristin__wilson) October 28, 2022
      The San Francisco police department is expected to soon hold a press conference on the attack. More

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      Obama admits Democrats can be a ‘buzzkill’ and urges better messaging

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      Obama admits Democrats can be a ‘buzzkill’ and urges better messagingPresident says he ‘used to get into trouble’ by being too policy-focused as Democrats brace for losing House majority Barack Obama acknowledged Democrats can be “a buzzkill” with their abstract campaign messaging and could better connect with voters by emphasizing what constituents feel in their day to day lives.During an interview on Pod Save America, released Friday, Obama acknowledged that he “used to get into trouble” when he appeared too professorial, including by standing behind a lectern and talking about policy in theoretical ways that didn’t directly connect with voters.‘Desperate and disgraceful’: candidates spar in heated debates as US midterms near – liveRead more“That’s not how people think about these issues,” Obama said, less than a month before his party tries to hang on to control of both congressional chambers during the 8 November midterms. “They think about them in terms of, you know, the life I’m leading day to day. How does politics … how is it even relevant to the things that I care most deeply about?“My family, my kids, work that gives me satisfaction, having fun, not being a buzzkill, right?”He added: “And sometimes Democrats are, right? You know, 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 went on to talk about his 86-year-old mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, whom he said was trying to learn “the right phraseology” to talk about issues. The former first lady Michelle Obama had said that was like “trying to learn Spanish” for her mother.“It doesn’t mean she shouldn’t try to learn Spanish, but it means that sometimes she’s not gonna get the words right,” the former president said. “And that’s OK, right?“And that attitude, I think, of just being a little more real and a little more grounded is something that I think goes a long way in counteracting what is the systematic propaganda that I think is being pumped out by Fox News and all these other outlets all the time.”Facing a slew of culture-war attack lines from Republicans, Democrats have sometimes become embroiled in their own debates over proper terminology, including the use of the term “Latinx” and “defund the police”. Democratic research from February found that voters could find the party “preachy”, “judgmental”, and “focused on the culture wars”, Politico reported.“Wokeness is a problem and everyone knows it,” Democratic pundit James Carville, the former strategist for Bill Clinton, told Vox last year. “There’s nothing inherently wrong with these phrases. But this is not how people talk.“This stuff is harmless in one sense, but in another sense it’s not.”Obama’s comments came as Democrats are bracing to likely lose their majority in the US House while hoping that they can retain the Senate.A recent New York Times/Siena poll found that 49% of likely voters said they would cast their ballot for a Republican candidate, compared to 45% for Democrats in congressional races. One of the most alarming findings for Democrats in the poll was the swing to Republicans among women who identified as independents. Last month, independent women backed Democrats by 14%, but the October poll found they now backed Republicans by 18%.Overall, women were split 47% to 47% on whether they would support Democrats or Republican congressional candidates. Democrats had an 11-point advantage last month in the poll.“I’m shifting more towards Republican because I feel like they’re more geared towards business,” Robin Ackerman, a 37-year-old Democrat in New Castle, Delaware, told the New York Times.TopicsBarack ObamaUS midterm elections 2022US politicsDemocratsRepublicansReuse this content More

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      Bibi review: Netanyahu memoir is hard-eyed – if not where Trump is concerned

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      Bibi review: Netanyahu memoir is hard-eyed – if not where Trump is concernedThe former Israeli PM is under a legal cloud but fighting for office again. His book is well-written and self-serving Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, in office three times over 15 years, as he reminds us in his memoir. These days, he leads the parliamentary opposition and is on trial for corruption and bribery. His countrymen return to the polls on 1 November, their fifth election since 2019.Netanyahu used golf metaphor to turn Trump against Palestinians, book saysRead moreIsrael’s politics are fractious and tribal. The far right grows as the left is decimated by the failed dream of the Oslo peace accords. Yet outside politics, things there are less fevered and acrid. Start-Up Nation has supplanted the kibbutz. Technology makes the desert bloom.In his memoir, Netanyahu doubles down on his embrace of the Covid vaccine and regrets easing up too early on pandemic closures, in hindsight a “cardinal mistake”. Here, the divide between Netanyahu and the other members of the populist right could not be starker. For him, modernity matters.Based on the latest polls, he has a serious shot at re-election but is not quite there. A win could mean immunity from prosecution. That decision will rest with his coalition partners – if he wins.Washington is watching, particularly if Jewish supremacists should enter the government. One seeks appointment as defense minister.“If we get a lot of mandates, we will have the legitimacy to demand significant portfolios such as the defense and the treasury,” Bezalel Smotrich, head of the far-right Religious Zionism party, declares.Bob Menendez is alarmed. He is a Democrat, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee and a major supporter of Israel. He led the fight against the Iran nuclear deal. As so often in US politics, the red-blue divide is on display and Israel is there in the middle.Netanyahu wrote his memoir longhand. It is not the standard campaign autobiography. It has heft, and not just because it runs to 650 pages. Primed for debate, he conveys his point of view with plenty of notes. He paints in primary colors, not pastels. The canvas is filled with adulation, anger, frustration and dish. Bibi is substantive and barbed. It is interesting. Netanyahu has scores to settle and punches to land. At times, he equates his fate with Israel’s.Netanyahu was born in Israel but attended high school in Philadelphia and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Throughout his book, Netanyahu calls his dad, Benzion Netanyahu, “Father”. Netanyahu the elder taught at Cornell. His son respects the US but is not enamored by its culture.The civil rights movement did not leave a lasting impression. Facing electoral defeat in 2015, against the backdrop of the 50th anniversary of the Selma march, Netanyahu warned that Israel’s Arabs, who are citizens, were voting “in droves”. To many, including Barack Obama, that 11th-hour campaign siren was reminiscent of the wail of Jim Crow. In his book, Netanyahu tries to explain away the episode. He comes up woefully short.Netanyahu is a former Israeli commando but also an ambassador to the UN. He catalogs differences with Obama, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and, to a point, Donald Trump. James Baker, secretary of state to the first President Bush, barred Netanyahu from the state department. In 1996, Clinton reportedly exclaimed: “Who the fuck does he think he is? … Who’s the fucking superpower here?”Bibi recounts the episode but says his relationship with the Clintons was “civil”. He challenges Obama’s stances toward Iran and the Palestinians but stays mum about Trump aiming a tart “fuck him” his way, for congratulating President Biden.Netanyahu castigates Clinton and Obama for purported messianism and naivety but says nothing of his own bad calls. For instance, in September 2002, he testified before Congress in support of the Iraq war.“I think the choice of Iraq is a good choice, it’s the right choice,” he said, adding: “It’s not a question of whether Iraq’s regime should be taken out but when should it be taken out. It’s not a question of whether you’d like to see a regime change in Iran but how to achieve it.”The American war dead might disagree.Netanyahu laments that Obama vetoed his request that the US strike nuclear installations in Iran. He does not attempt to reconcile his demand for armed confrontation with hostility to “endless wars” on the Trumpist right.In a book published amid Russia’s war on Ukraine, Netanyahu repeatedly lauds Vladimir Putin for his intellect and toughness.“I took the measure of the man,” he claims. Once upon a time, George W Bush claimed to have looked into Putin’s soul. We know how that ended. In contrast, Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney and Joe Biden got the Russian leader right from the off.Netanyahu says he understands Putin’s resentments: “The opening up of Russia …revealed that Russia had fallen hopelessly behind the west.”In a recently released transcript of an off-the-record conversation between Obama and a group of reporters, the then president charged that like the world’s strongmen and their future White House fanboy, Netanyahu subscribed to “Putinism” himself.Trump a narcissist and a ‘dick’, ex-ambassador Sondland says in new bookRead more“What I worry about most is, there is a war right now of ideas, more than any hot war, and it is between Putinism – which, by the way, is subscribed to, at some level, by Erdogan or Netanyahu or Duterte and Trump – and a vision of a liberal market-based democracy.”Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, has wholeheartedly embraced Putin. Reportedly, the Biden White House is “very disappointed”.Meanwhile, Trump lashes out at American Jews for not showing him the love evangelicals do: “US Jews need to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel – Before it is too late!”Don’t expect Netanyahu or Trump’s Jewish supporters to say much – if anything at all.
      Bibi: My Story is published in the US by Simon & Schuster
      TopicsBooksBenjamin NetanyahuIsraelMiddle East and north AfricaUS politicsUS foreign policyDonald TrumpreviewsReuse this content More

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      Barack Obama to campaign for Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin Senate race

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      Barack Obama to campaign for Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin Senate raceBarnes, who would be the first Black senator from Wisconsin, is looking to unseat Republican Ron Johnson Barack Obama, who twice won Wisconsin by large margins, will travel to the battleground state in the final weeks of the current midterm elections, seeking to boost Mandela Barnes, the young lieutenant governor looking to unseat the Republican Ron Johnson in a key US Senate contest.Barnes would be the first Black senator from Wisconsin. He held early leads over Johnson but the Republican, a prominent figure on the GOP hard right, has surged back. This week, a Marquette University Law School poll showed Johnson in the lead.Herschel Walker denies abortion ban support and brandishes ‘police badge’ in Georgia debateRead moreBarnes, who is from Milwaukee, has been trying to energize Black voters in a contest that could decide control of the Senate, which is currently split 50-50 and controlled by Democrats through the vote of the vice-president, Kamala Harris.Obama, the first Black US president, is set to hold an early voting event on 29 October, less than two weeks before election day, in Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin and home to its largest group of African American voters.Politico reported this week that the Barnes campaign was reaching out to high-profile Democrats, seeking support as he slips in the polls. Joe Biden, Harris and Bernie Sanders were also named as potential guests.Since his first run for the Senate in 2010, Johnson has marketed himself as a successful businessman upholding conservative values.But he has leaned heavily into rightwing conspiracy theories around the 2020 presidential election and Covid-19 vaccines and remedies. In turn, his approval rating has dropped to 45%, the second-lowest for a Republican senator.In a recent editorial, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the largest newspaper in the state, called Johnson “the worst Wisconsin representative since the infamous Joseph McCarthy” and reminded readers he promised to serve no more than two terms, which he has now completed.“Voters should hold him to that pledge in November,” the newspaper said.But Johnson’s campaign has been gaining steam. Early polls showed Barnes with a slight edge but Johnson has launched an intense negative ad campaign, attempting to portray Barnes as bad for the economy in a time of high inflation and as a supporter for activists who want to defund police departments.The lieutenant governor has not backed such campaigns.At a heated debate last Thursday, Johnson, when asked to say something nice about his opponent, said that Barnes had loving parents and added: “What puzzles me about that is with that upbringing, why has he turned against America?”Wisconsin has long been a swing state. After voting for Obama twice, Donald Trump beat Hilary Clinton in 2016 by less than one point. Biden won with a similarly small margin four years later.The state is home to more tight races this midterm season, including the Democratic governor, Tony Evers, being challenged by Tim Michels, a construction company co-owner endorsed by Trump. Marquette polls have for months shown that race to be about even.Tammy Baldwin, the state’s other US senator, and Gwen Moore, a congresswoman who represents Milwaukee, are also slated to appear with Democratic candidates for office, including the serving attorney general, Josh Kaul.TopicsUS midterm elections 2022Barack ObamaWisconsinDemocratsUS SenateUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      The Long Alliance review: sure guide to Biden and Obama’s imperfect union

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      The Long Alliance review: sure guide to Biden and Obama’s imperfect union Gabriel Debenedetti masters the crosscurrents of the Democratic party as well as relations between two presidentsGabriel Debenedetti is the national correspondent for New York magazine. His first book brings depth and context to the near-two-decade relationship between the 44th and 46th presidents. Under a telling subtitle, The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama, Debenedetti captures the two men’s closeness – and distance.The Divider review: riveting narrative of Trump’s plot against AmericaRead moreThe Long Alliance emphasizes that the pair’s time in power together was not a buddy movie. Obama was the star. Biden played a supporting role until he too seized the brass ring, to send Donald Trump into exile.Obama was a first-term senator, just 47 years old, when he vanquished the Clintons, bulldozed John McCain and entered the White House. Biden’s trajectory was markedly different. Late in life, on his third quest for the presidency, he took down another septuagenarian amid a deadly pandemic.The union of Obama and Biden was always moored in intergenerational convenience. Obama was the agent of change, Biden a relic of an older time. Obama’s aides cast a wary eye toward the senator from Delaware. To Biden, politics was tactile. He did not readily inspire.Walloped by Obama in Iowa in 2008, Biden immediately withdrew. Over time, the two men bonded. There was greater warmth between them than between Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, let alone Bush and Dan Quayle. Obama always heard Biden out. On the other hand, the Obamas never invited the Bidens to the White House residence. Barack and Joe shared lunches, not dinners and movies with popcorn.Hiccups and speed bumps left marks. Biden got ahead of Obama on gay marriage. Hunter Biden made headlines with his schemes and hustles. Confronted with the younger Biden boy’s foray into Ukraine and the energy business, Obama’s spokesman, Jay Carney, expressed discomfort. Like Trump, Hunter’s fate now rests with federal prosecutors.Obama empathized with his vice-president. When Beau Biden, Biden’s older son, was dying, Obama offered a shoulder to lean on. He delivered a stirring eulogy. In their final days in office, Obama gave Biden the presidential medal of freedom. The honor, suffused with affection and tenderness, surprised its recipient. Biden’s successor as vice-president, Mike Pence, met a very different fate.Yet for all Obama’s smarts, he could get things terribly wrong. He failed to anticipate the magnitude of the backlash to the Affordable Care Act, the resonance of birtherism, abhorrent as it was, and the depth and breadth of the emerging national chasm beneath him. Democratic losses in the 2010 and 2014 midterms and the Tea Party with its tricorn hats presaged a sustained demand for a return to the past, the rise of Trump and a tolerance for autocracy within the Republican party.Obama also messed up by viewing Hillary Clinton as his rightful successor, if not his political heir. In 2008, competing against her for the nomination, he derided her as “likable enough”. In 2016, in hindsight, little had changed.Clinton lacked her husband’s capacity to emote and connect. Like Ted Cruz, the Republican Texas senator, there was something awkward, off-putting, which she could not shake. Her comments on Trump’s “deplorables” hurt her much as Mitt Romney’s take on the “47%” did him in 2012. Looking back, Obama miscalculated – much as his brain trust would do in 2020 with Biden.Under Trump, Romney showed a deeper appreciation of where the US stood. It wanted a president not named Trump. A shot at normalcy. Nothing else.On the night of the 2018 midterms, Romney urged Biden to wage one more campaign. “You have to run,” Romney said in a call. Anti-Trump sentiment cost the Republicans the House but at the same moment Utah was sending Romney to the Senate.During the 2020 primaries, Obama and Biden stayed in touch. But until the former vice-president emerged as the presumptive nominee, his president’s endorsement was not forthcoming. Biden lost Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada. Heading to South Carolina, he was low on cash and short on delegates. There, the backing of James Clyburn, the House whip, together with the state’s Black voters, righted Biden’s ship. Debenedetti shows mastery of the tugs and crosscurrents that shape the Democrats’ upstairs-downstairs coalition.African Americans could be among the most socially conservative components of the party. They were not clamoring for open borders or Medicare for All. Obamacare stood as the legacy of the first Black president. Their patrimony was the cruel lash of slavery, not the Harvard faculty lounge or the yoke of the tsar. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders did not speak to them or for them.Obama aides badmouthed Biden in print and on TV. David Axelrod, a senior Obama campaign and White House hand, never cottoned to Biden, and Biden knew it. And yet, behind the scenes, Obama helped clear the field.In the end, Covid and the need for national leadership put Biden over the top. No other Democrat could have beaten Trump.The Destructionists review: brilliant study of Republican rage pre-TrumpRead moreAs president, Biden’s record is uneven. The withdrawal from Afghanistan put a dent in his standing from which he has not recovered. In contrast, US support for Ukraine appears the product of thoughtful conviction. As for the economy, Biden’s efforts to placate his base may well have heightened inflation. Gas prices are coming down but the rest remains stubbornly up.Biden competes with Obama’s legacy and the ghost of FDR. The Democrats hold only 50 Senate seats, control on a knife-edge as the November election looms.“I am confident that Barack is not happy with the coverage of this administration as more transformative than his,” Biden reportedly told one adviser, according to another big political book, This Will Not Pass by Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, of the New York Times and CNN respectively.The two men still talk, though.
      The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama is published in the US by Macmillan
      TopicsBooksJoe BidenBarack ObamaBiden administrationObama administrationDemocratsUS elections 2020reviewsReuse this content More