It was an extraordinary moment in American history — an ex-president saying the sitting president would tear down our democracy to hold power.
- It's hard to overstate the power of President Barack Obama's speech last night to the virtual Democratic National Convention — how remarkable it is for a former president to deliver a warning like that about a sitting president:
[T]his president and those in power — those who benefit from keeping things the way they are — they are counting on your cynicism. They know they can’t win you over with their policies. So they’re hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote, and to convince you that your vote doesn’t matter.
That’s how they win. ... That's how a democracy withers, until it’s no democracy at all.
We can't let that happen. ... Don’t let them take away your democracy.
Between the lines: It was as if Obama, who reinforced the stakes by speaking from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, let loose frustrations he's been holding back for four years.
- It's not the first time Obama has voiced his concerns about Trump, but he's always kept some level of restraint.
- You could hear hints of the constitutional law professor he used to be, as well as a former president who seems genuinely appalled by his successor:
I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously ...
But he never did. For close to four years now, he’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.
Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe: 170,000 Americans dead, millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.
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