Why Are Democrats Attacking Obama?
The former president’s policies took a drubbing at this week’s debates. A media freak-out ensued.
Still the one?
Photographer: Cristina Quicler/AFP
Thursday was apparently Freak Out About Democrats Attacking Barack Obama Day. I hope we’re done with it. One day of this was one too many.
To begin with: The whole thing is overstated. It’s true that there were some attacks on Obama’s policies during the Democratic debates this week, especially on immigration. But these were mostly about where the party should go next, rather than whether Obama was a good president. The supposed conflict was a frame that appealed to CNN, which sponsored the debates, and also one that former Vice President Joe Biden is eager to emphasize (because Obama is popular among Democrats, it’s in Biden’s interests to organize the contest as a referendum on the former president, with him as Obama’s stand-in).