At a private Democratic fundraiser in Red Bank, New Jersey, on Friday, July 11, former President Barack Obama delivered unusually blunt advice to donors: stop the \u201cnavel-gazing,\u201d \u201cwhining,\u201d and \u201cfetal positions,\u201d and \u201ctoughen up.\u201d The event, hosted by Gov. Phil Murphy and his wife, marked Obama\u2019s first big return to the fundraising circuit since Democrats\u2019 2024 losses. Reports say it raised about $2.5 million and spotlighted candidates like Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Virginia\u2019s Abigail Spanberger.<\/p>\n
Obama\u2019s message was a call to action: if you\u2019re disappointed, do more\u2014don\u2019t disengage. He also pressed Democrats to defend principles consistently, including free speech \u201cwhen it\u2019s hard,\u201d and said what\u2019s needed now is courage. The remarks, circulated via excerpts obtained by CNN and summarized by multiple outlets, urged backing candidates who can win rather than hunting for a \u201cquick fix.\u201d<\/p>\n
The urgency came amid rough polling headlines. One June-long ActiVote survey of 523 registered voters (reported July 1) put the president\u2019s net approval at about \u20137, underscoring headwinds for Democrats but\u2014by Obama\u2019s framing\u2014also a reason to organize, not retreat. Broader national trackers through late June and early July showed similarly negative net approval.<\/p>\n
The fundraiser followed Obama\u2019s June warnings that the U.S. is edging \u201cdangerously close\u201d to autocratic norms, with references to Hungary under Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2014a reminder, he argued, that defending democratic institutions requires sustained engagement, not despair. That context turned his \u201ctoughen up\u201d line from party pep talk into an alarm bell about democracy itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At a private Democratic fundraiser in Red Bank, New Jersey, on Friday, July 11, former President Barack Obama delivered unusually blunt advice to donors: stop the \u201cnavel-gazing,\u201d… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n