The Democratic Party’s progressive insurgents are turning on Obama
During a June 20 campaign stop in Saginaw, he said Obama’s presidency “wasn’t quite what we had wanted” and argued many Americans remained frustrated by the economic fallout of the Great Recession. “I think the [Affordable Care Act] was one small step in that direction, but also, you look at the fallout of the financial crisis, and a lot of folks are frustrated.”El Sayed has also argued that Obama governed too incrementally. In his 2020 book, he described the Affordable Care Act as an “important if tepid healthcare reform” and criticized the administration for abandoning more aggressive structural changes to healthcare during negotiations with Republicans.
- ▪During a June 20 campaign stop in Saginaw, he said Obama’s presidency “wasn’t quite what we had wanted” and argued many Americans remained frustrated by the economic fallout of the Great Recession.
- ▪“I think the [Affordable Care Act] was one small step in that direction, but also, you look at the fallout of the financial crisis, and a lot of folks are frustrated.”El Sayed has also argued that Obama governed too incrementally.
- ▪In his 2020 book, he described the Affordable Care Act as an “important if tepid healthcare reform” and criticized the administration for abandoning more aggressive structural changes to healthcare during negotiations with Republicans.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
As former President Barack Obama remains one of the Democratic Party’s most popular figures, a growing number of insurgent progressive candidates are increasingly willing to criticize his presidency and the politics of the Obama era, signaling a broader reassessment taking shape on parts of the Democratic Left.The tension has surfaced across several 2026 races, where candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America or broader populist movements have argued Obama’s presidency failed to deliver the transformational economic change many voters expected after the 2008 financial crisis.
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