{"id":2461290,"date":"2025-07-14T13:10:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T17:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/obama-pushes-democrats-to-toughen-up-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T13:11:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T17:11:15","slug":"obama-pushes-democrats-to-toughen-up-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/obama-pushes-democrats-to-toughen-up-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama pushes Democrats to \u2018toughen up\u2019 &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fobama-pushes-democrats-to-toughen-up-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2461290&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Former President Barack Obama urged Democrats to &#8220;toughen up&#8221; during a private fundraiser in New Jersey as the party seeks to rebuild its coalition under President Donald trump&#8217;s second term. Speaking at the event, Obama criticized Democrats for excessive self-criticism and urged them to take a more proactive and resilient stance. He emphasized the importance of supporting Democratic candidates, especially in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/roundup-heres-whats-happening-in-key-governor-matchups\/\" title=\"Roundup: Here\u2019s What\u2019s Happening In Key Governor Matchups\">key gubernatorial races<\/a> in New jersey and Virginia, highlighting their pragmatic approaches and strong records of service. Obama encouraged party members to reject the search for fast fixes or messianic figures and to invest in strengthening the Democratic National Committee for upcoming,data-driven election cycles.The fundraiser, hosted by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, marked Obama&#8217;s first since the November election, reflecting efforts to unify and energize the party amid ongoing debates on how best to oppose Trump.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Obama pushes Democrats to &lsquo;toughen up&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2160042\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/barack-obama\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Barack Obama<\/a>&nbsp;implored fellow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Democrats<\/a> to &ldquo;toughen up&rdquo; at a private fundraiser in New Jersey as his party attempts to rebuild its coalition under President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Donald Trump&rsquo;s <\/a>second term.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to require a little bit less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions. And it&rsquo;s going to require Democrats to just toughen up,&rdquo; Obama said, according to excerpts the <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>obtained of the Democratic National Committee fundraiser. <\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3470134\/nyc-race-could-show-small-socialist-movement-byron-york\/\">NYC race could show how small socialist movement is with Democrats: Byron York<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3470250\/historic-grand-canyon-lodge-wildfires-arizona-what-to-know\/\">Historic Grand Canyon Lodge destroyed as wildfires rage in Arizona: What to know<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3470259\/mark-green-endorses-matt-van-epps-congressional-seat\/\">Retiring Mark Green endorses Matt Van Epps to take over his congressional seat<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The event held on Friday evening marked Obama&rsquo;s first fundraising event since the November election, after Trump defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris and the GOP gained control of both the House and the Senate. <\/p>\n<p>Democrats have since remained in a political wilderness over how best to counter Trump. Members of the base have pushed party leaders for a more combative stance against the president, while some lawmakers have cautioned against a &ldquo;resistance&rdquo;-level attack against him. DNC chairman Ken Martin has publicly and privately complained of the turmoil with the controversial David Hogg, which has at times overshadowed his tenure.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3322846\/who-to-watch-new-york-city-2025-mayoral-race\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HERE&rsquo;S WHO TO WATCH IN NEW YORK CITY&rsquo;S MAYORAL RACE THIS YEAR<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Obama waded into the debate during the fundraiser, which will help boost New Jersey gubernatorial nominee Mikie Sherrill&rsquo;s coffers as she competes against Republican Jack Ciattarelli. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t tell me you&rsquo;re a Democrat, but you&rsquo;re kind of disappointed right now, so you&rsquo;re not doing anything,&rdquo; Obama continued. &ldquo;No, now is exactly the time that you get in there and do something. Don&rsquo;t say that you care deeply about free speech and then you&rsquo;re quiet.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>The New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections are the two most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/americans-are-heading-to-the-polls-across-the-country-here-are-some-of-the-biggest-races\/\" title=\"Americans Are Heading To The Polls Across The Country. Here Are Some Of The Biggest Races\">high-profile races<\/a> this year, which the former president alluded to. Former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger is running to succeed Gov. Glen Youngkin (R-VA) against Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We have this great opportunity, with two candidates who are similar and powerful spokespersons for a pragmatic, common-sense desire to help people and who both have remarkable track records of service,&rdquo; said Obama.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3458858\/house-members-eye-higher-offices-2026-midterms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HIGHER CALLING: AMBITIOUS HOUSE MEMBERS EYE PROMOTIONS IN THE 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Stop looking for the quick fix. Stop looking for the Messiah. You have great candidates running races right now. Support those candidates,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;Get Mikie elected Governor. Win Virginia. Make sure that the DNC has what it needs to compete in what will be a more data-driven, more <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >social media-driven cycle<\/a>, which will cost some money, and expertise, and time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Both Martin and Sherrill attended the fundraiser hosted at the home of Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and his wife, Tammy Murphy, in Red Bank. CNN first reported on Obama&rsquo;s comments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2160042\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2160042\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Obama urges Democrats to &#8216;toughen up&#8217; amid challenges<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2658,"featured_media":2461291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Barack-Obama-uuj5.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[3685,5315,5894,32076],"class_list":["post-2461290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-democrats","tag-obama","tag-politics","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Barack-Obama-uuj5.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2461290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2461290"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2461290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2461294,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2461290\/revisions\/2461294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2461291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2461290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2461290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2461290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}