Can’t blame ‘em for being disappointed. After all, he was supposed to be the Chosen One — and now he’s chosen not to help.
It’s reminiscent of another “Chosen One,” and I’m not talking about Jesus Christ, Moses, or anything biblical. I know, I know, I’m a day late for “May the Fourth,” but nonetheless:
“You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!” —Obi-Wan Kenobi
They expected more light from their “Lightbringer.”
Because when Barack Hussein Obama burst upon the political scene, the hyperbole flew into overdrive. Mostly because of Barack Hussein Obama:
“…I am absolutely certain that, generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless. This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal. This was the moment when we ended a war, and secured our nation, and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. [emphasis added]
—Obama accepting the Democratic nomination for president, June 3, 2008
His “this was the moment” reframe was telling: In Obama’s narrative, before we were graced with his generational genius, we hadn’t even begun to care for the sick or employ the jobless. But now that he’s here, why, he’d heal everything — our hearts, our image, our children.
He’d even heal our planet!
And the mainstream media gobbled it up with a spoon. This 2008 article from SFGATE captured the media zeitgeist:
No, it’s not merely his youthful vigor, or handsomeness, or even inspiring rhetoric. It is not fresh ideas or cool charisma or the fact that a black president will be historic and revolutionary in about a thousand different ways. It is something more. Even Bill Clinton, with all his effortless, winking charm, didn’t have what Obama has, which is a sort of powerful luminosity, a unique high-vibration integrity.
But today, our Lightbringer and planetary healer is complaining that mean ol’ Donald Trump is causing “tension” in his marriage.
Still, Obama parcels his time with care. He told me that the demands of his schedule are of great concern to Michelle: “She wants to see her husband easing up and spending more time with her, enjoying what remains of our lives.” Of the pressure on him to be on the campaign circuit, he said, “It does create a genuine tension in our household, and it frustrates her. I’m more forgiving of it, in the sense that I understand why people feel that way, because people aren’t looking at me in historical comparison to other Presidents. They don’t care about the fact that no other ex-President was the main surrogate for the Party for four election cycles after they left office.”
Well, yeah. The Democrats didn’t expect Obama to act like the typical ex-president because he was explicitly sold to them as something different.
More specifically, something better.
Been that way from the very beginning: It’s why he “earned” the Nobel Peace Prize less than nine months into his first term. (In honor of his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”) Sure, he might not have done much yet, but it was just a matter of time.
Unfortunately, we’re still waiting.
In hindsight, he was the most overhyped politician in American history. Never has the gulf between what was promised — and what was delivered — been so glaring.
That’s not to say the Obamas have abandoned politics. Barack and Michelle have been featured speakers at every Democratic National Convention since 2008. More recently, President Obama threw his support behind Virginia’s partisan gerrymandering scheme — before warning us of partisan gerrymandering schemes:
Must be exhausting to be for gerrymandering one week and against it the next. https://t.co/W5sAMbkj0n
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) April 29, 2026
But the Democrats expected more of their savior than X posts and uploaded videos. They expected… magic.
Instead, as the New Yorker noted, the Obamas were mostly interested in self-enrichment:
In March, 2017, the Obamas signed a sixty-five-million-dollar joint book deal with Penguin Random House. Obama had written books before, but he found the composition of Presidential memoirs slow going. He published the first volume, “A Promised Land,” in 2020. (It was excerpted in these pages.) He told me that he intends for the second volume to come out later this year. Michelle had more immediate success. A memoir, “Becoming,” was released in 2018 and sold more than seventeen million copies, earning back the publisher’s advance and then some. Her book tour sold out about thirty arenas, including Chicago’s United Center, where fourteen thousand people paid to see her in conversation with Winfrey. Barack and Michelle have since published several more best-selling titles.
The Obamas no longer need to make their tax returns public. There is no knowing how much money they’ve made in the past nine years—or how much money they’ve given to charity—but their receipts certainly reach nine figures, from book sales, speeches, and deals with Netflix, Spotify, and Audible. Over time, they have built a considerable real-estate portfolio. They still own the house in Chicago where they lived when Obama was in the U.S. Senate. Shortly after leaving the White House, they spent $8.1 million on a home in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Six years ago, they bought an $11.75-million waterfront estate on Martha’s Vineyard from an owner of the Boston Celtics. They also built a beachfront house on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
And then, after cashing in on his presidency and making a mint, Obama threw his support behind — who else — the socialist mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani:
That same day, Obama had a call with Zohran Mamdani, who was on the brink of winning the New York City mayoral race. Mamdani came out of the Democratic Socialists of America and once lambasted Obama as “pretty damn evil” and dishonest. But Mamdani has since renounced those remarks, calling them “the stupid tweet of a college student” and has welcomed Obama’s counsel. Recently, the two visited a pre-K center in the Bronx together, singing “The Wheels on the Bus” as they promoted the Mayor’s push for free universal child care. The event was out of the ordinary for Obama, who rarely appears with politicians off the campaign trail. But the former President has said that he is impressed by Mamdani’s ability to get across a clear political message, often via social media, and by his talent for inspiring young volunteers.
It was stunningly Obamaesque: Get filthy rich from capitalism… and then campaign for socialism!
Because, after all these years, an undeniable pattern has emerged. What Obama is supposed to be — and what he actually is — are not the same. His promises are as empty as his Nobel Peace Prize.
But for some Democrats, hope springs eternal:
Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington State, told me that during Trump’s first term she often wondered, of Obama, “Why isn’t he out here?” She understood the former President’s desire to take a break after his White House years, but as the picture grew grimmer, she said, she heard friends and constituents comment, “Our country’s being destroyed, and you’re doing your Netflix thing and your Hawaii thing?” She went on, “I still remember his speech on race and singing ‘Amazing Grace’ in the South Carolina church. There were these moments when he was able to grab the attention of the country. What if he had done that in a way that gave people a North Star at these really difficult moments?”
I heard similarly plaintive remarks from some former Obama staffers. Cornell Belcher, who was a member of Obama’s polling team during his two Presidential campaigns, told me that he sees an imperative for Obama to work against “forces of darkness—not because they’re Republican but because they’re anti-democratic.” Belcher thinks that the 2026 midterm elections will be won not just on pocketbook issues but on values and character, and by bringing people together in a multiracial coalition. “This moment calls for him to take a better and bigger position,” Belcher said. “We need a return of the Jedi.”
The Jedi, alas, won’t be returning: There’s not enough money in it.
So the Democrats will have to settle for Obama’s intermittent uploading of anti/pro-gerrymandering X videos, plus a few cherry-picked media stunts. He’s uninterested in anything more.
It’s too much work. Why bother?
His North Star was never “healing the planet” or “bringing the light.” It was bringing home the bacon.
The #1 thing the Obamas care about is the Obamas.
Which is why he’ll continue to prioritize making millions with Netflix. (While making sure Michelle isn’t mad at him for “tension” in their marriage, of course.) “It’s all about the Benjamins.”
It’s a remarkable commentary on Obama’s psyche: As our first black president, he was blessed with a bully pulpit and a mighty bullhorn. With his unique credibility and historic stature, he could’ve done more to heal America’s racial divide than anyone in history. In a different timeline, he would’ve inspired millions of minorities to follow their dreams — because this is the Land of Opportunity — a country so welcoming and loving, it elected a black man as president in a landslide.
Instead, he divided us further.
That’s the true Obama legacy: He’s the “chosen one” who chose himself.
One Last Thing: 2026 is a critical year for America First. It began with Mayor Mamdani declaring war on “rugged individualism” and will reach a crescendo with the midterm elections. Nothing less than the fate of the America First movement teeters in the balance.
Never before have the political battle lines been so clearly defined. Win or lose, 2026 will transform our country.
We need your help to succeed!
As a PJ Media VIP member, you’ll receive exclusive access to our behind-the-paywall content, commenting privileges, and an ad-free experience. VIP Gold gets you the same level of “insider access” across our entire family of sites (PJ Media, Townhall, RedState, twitchy, Hot Air, and Bearing Arms). That means: More stories, more videos, more content, more fun, more conservatism, more EVERYTHING!
And if you CLICK HERE and use the promo code FIGHT you’ll receive a Trumpian 60% discount!
Thank you for your consideration.
