If reports are to be believed, former US president Barack Obama will soon be returning to politics. After his brief time-off, Obama is said to be gearing up to re-enter the political realm, according to a report in Politico.
The report suggests that Obama is likely going to take up a significant role to address gerrymandering that apparently benefits Republican lawmakers.
Briefing a group of reporters on Tuesday, the former president’s Attorney General Eric Holder emphatically said: “It’s coming. He’s coming. And he’s ready to roll.”
The report also mentions that Obama will be a crucial part of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), which is affiliated to the Democratic Party, where he most likely be working on a couple of things, including gerrymandering, holding meetings with state legislators and raising funds among a few.
The mainstay of NDRC’s agenda is to win back seats in state elections, with primary focus on strengthening ballot initiatives across the United States for nonpartisan commissions.
The NDRC, which was established in 2016 but officially launched in January 2017, describes its blueprint on its website as: “Chaired by former Attorney General Eric Holder, the NDRC is building a targeted, state-by-state strategy that ensures Democrats can fight back and produce fairer maps in the 2021 redistricting process.”
Just before Obama’s term as President ended, Holder had told The New York Times in an interview that fighting gerrymandering was a “primary concern” for Obama after his tenure is over as President.
While its clear that Obama will play an important role in the NDRC and its initiatives, he will also provide expertise to other Democratic organisations such as the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.
In an interview to Politico, Holder said this is really a battle for our democracy. He added: “The notion that people are denied their ability to cast a meaningful vote … is inconsistent with who we say we are, inconsistent with what we say our democracy is about.”
Shortly after leaving office, Barack Obama was ranked as the 12th best US President overall, according to a poll of historians conducted by C-SPAN ahead of president’s day. As per a USA Today report, Obama was eligible for the Presidential Historians Survey, which had asked 91 historians to rank all 43 former presidents across 10 categories.
