saturday, november 16 , 2019. the washington post EZ SU A
BY SEAN SULLIVANformer president Barack
obama on friday urged Demo-
crats running for the White H ouse
not to lurch too far left in their
pursuit of the nomination, while
at the same time seeking to quell
concerns in the party about its
2020 hopefuls and the messy pri-
mary season to come.
The comments — made in
Washington at a meeting of the
Democracy Alliance, a powerful
network of liberal donors —
marked some of obama’s most
pointed words yet about a fluid
primary race in which he is not
picking sides. They echoed previ-
ous comments in which he
warned about the dangers of pur-
suing purity and rigidity in poli-
tics.
“This is still a country that is
less revolutionary than it is inter-
ested in improvement,” obama
said. “They like seeing things im-
proved. But the average American
doesn’t t hink that we have to com-
pletely tear down the system and
remake it. And I think it’s impor-
tant for us not to lose s ight o f that.”
obama did not name any can-
didates. But some Democrats as-
sociate the characteristics he de-
scribed with Sens. Elizabeth War-
ren (D-mass.) and Bernie Sanders
(I-Vt.), staunch liberal candidates
advocating sweeping change who
are running near the top of the
polls.
Beyond those two candidates,
the contest has often been domi-
nated by a discussion of ideas that
were long seen as untenable, even
in Democratic circles. Candidates
have called for mandatory buy-
backs of certain firearms, decrim-
inalizing border crossings and
forgiving most or all student d ebt.
In some cases, the proposals have
come at a cost of tens of trillions o f
dollars.
H owever, obama also warned
the candidates against simply
standing pat and campaigning on
his accomplishments. Instead, he
argued, they should try to “push
past” them with new ideas. He
pointed to his signature health-
care law, which has been a focal
point in the contest, as a prime
example, calling it a “really good
starter home.”
obama’s vice president, Joe
Biden, has campaigned aggres-
sively on expanding the Afford-
able Care Act with an optional
public insurance program, as has
South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete
Buttigieg, another top candidate.
That has put them at odds with
Warren and Sanders, who favor
implementing a new medicare-
for-all system that would insure
everyone through the govern-
ment.
obama did not indicate a pref-
erence friday.
The former president seemed
to be urging a balance between
striving for bold new ideas and
being in touch with voters’ con-cerns. While it is the role of activ-
ists to push for dramatic change,
obama said, candidates should
aim to win elections.
“my point is that even as we
push the envelope and we are bold
in our vision, we also have to be
rooted in reality and the fact that
voters, including Democratic vot-
ers and certainly persuadable in-
dependents or even moderate re-
publicans, are not driven by the
same views that are reflected on
certain, you know, left-leaning
Twitter feeds or the activist wing
of our party,” he said.
The 44th president has been
careful about commenting pub-
licly about the contest. He has not
spoken about it often, even as he
has frequently met with and coun-
seled the candidates in privateover the past couple of years.
He said he has advised all of
them to ask themselves the same
basic questions: Why me? How
will this impact my loved ones?
And can I win?
The last question is one that
has increasingly given Democrat-
ic donors anxiety as they assess
the field. This week, it grew with
the addition of former massachu-
setts governor Deval Patrick, a
staunch obama ally who entered
the race saying that neither the
path trod by Biden nor Sanders
and Warren “seizes the moment”
in a way that insures a defeat for
Trump. meanwhile, former New
York mayor mike Bloomberg also
has taken steps toward running.
The 11th-hour moves reflect a
primary contest unsettled by the
fears of many Democrats worried
that Trump will seize a second
term. obama urged them to not to
be fretful.
“for those who get stressed
about robust primaries, I just
have to remind you that I had a
very robust primary,” he said,
prompting laughter in the audi-
ence. He reminded those in atten-
dance of his grueling 2008 battle
with Hillary Clinton.
“We have a field of very accom-
plished, very serious and passion-
ate and smart people who have a
history of public service,” obama
said. “And whoever emerges from
the primary process, I will work
my tail off to make sure they are
the next president.”
Even as he remains neutral in
the primaries, obama is stepping
deeper into the campaign. Next
week, he will appear at a Demo-
cratic National Committee fund-
raiser in Silicon Valley.
The president spoke friday in
what was billed as a “fireside chat”
with Stacey Abrams, the 2018
Democratic nominee for governor
in Georgia and a rising star in the
party.
As he concluded the roughly
45-minute discussion, obama of-
fered a final word of advice for the
party’s White House hopefuls.
“We have the better argument,”
obama said. “We can’t be arro-
gant about it. We can’t take for
granted that somehow people,
just, you know, the scales will fall
from their e yes at some point.”
[email protected]Obama to Democratic hopefuls:
Ease o≠ the ‘revolutionary’ talk
But he also sought to
dispel concerns about
party’s presidential slate“The average American
doesn’t think that we
have to completely tear
down the system and
remake it.”
Barack Obama, addressing the
Democracy Alliance in Washingtonelder who was helping U.S. forces.
Golsteyn, in an interview with
The Post this year, said the man
was set free because U.S. forces in
his area weren’t authorized to
keep detainees. He set an ambush
for the man, whom he believed to
be responsible for the recent death
of two marines, he said. He rea-
soned that if the man came in his
direction, he was returning to ac-
tivities with the Taliban.
Golsteyn said in a statement
that his family is “profoundly
grateful” for Trump’s action and
that they have lived in “constant
fear of this r unaway p rosecution.”
Gallagher faced a court-martial
this past summer after he was
accused of mortally stabbing a
wounded Islamic State detainee in
the n eck a nd obstruction of justice
for allegedly threatening other
SEALs w ho reported him.
The murder case against him
fell apart after another SEAL who
was offered immunity to testify
against him said in court that he,
and not Gallagher, had killed the
detainee.
Gallagher’s a ttorney, T im Parla-
tore, said Trump told his client
that he had been watching the
case and believed reinstating his
old r ank was the r ight thing t o do.
“The president was very famil-
iar w ith the prosecutorial miscon-
duct associated with the case,” P ar-
latore said. “I think that certainly
plays into his decision.”
In Lorance’s case, nine mem-
bers of his unit testified against
him. They said under oath that
Lorance, as their new platoon
leader, had ordered them to open
fire on three Afghan men riding
motorcycles, e ven t hough their in-
tent was not clear, after issuing
death threats to local l eaders.
[email protected]official, said most have tended to
support the military justice sys-
tem and its verdicts to support
good order and discipline.
The military, he said, has
“worked for decades to lay the
ghosts” of the Vietnam War and
war crimes c ommitted during i t to
rest, and Trump’s decision risks
undermining that.
“Executive clemency like this
introduces doubt i nto t he c hain o f
command, and creates uncertain-
ty a bout accountability for breach-
es of military rules,” said Carter,
who now studies n ational security
for t he rand Corp.Golsteyn, a Special forces offi-
cer, went from being regarded as
one of the Army’s heroes in the
Afghanistan war to being investi-
gated in the 2010 death of an un-
armed man in a combat z one.
The case first emerged after
Golsteyn, who had been awarded
a Silver Star for valor on the same
deployment, said during a poly-
graph test while a pplying f or a job
with the CIA t hat he had killed t he
man and burned his body. Gol-
steyn said the man was a suspect-
ed Ta liban bombmaker who had
just crossed paths with a tribaltried to change the president’s
mind amid concerns that Trump’s
move would undermine the mili-
tary justice system, according to
three U.S. officials, speaking on
the condition of anonymity be-
cause o f the s ensitivity of the issue.
The Army said in a statement
friday night that it will i mplement
the pardons of Golsteyn and Lo-
rance and a cknowledged the pres-
ident’s p owers to grant pardons.
“The Army has full confidence
in our system of justice,” t he state-
ment said. “The Uniform Code of
military Justice ensures good or-
der and discipline for uniformed
service members while holding
accountable those who violate its
provisions. T he f oundation of mil-
itary law is the Constitution, and
the Constitution establishes the
President’s power to grant par-
dons.”
A dvocates for the service mem-
bers had blasted the Pentagon for
its handling of all three cases, de-
tailing what they saw as question-
able actions by prosecutors and
investigators. The cases h ave been
featured frequently on conserva-
tive media, as supporters pre-
pared cases for the president be-
hind the scenes.
The White House statement is-
sued friday cited the advocacy of
several republican congressmen,
as well as Bing West, an author
who embedded with Golsteyn’s
unit and served in the Pentagon
during the reagan administra-
tion, and P ete Hegseth, a fox News
personality who served in the
Army.
Past presidents have occasion-
ally weighed in on military cases.
But Phillip Carter, a former Army
officer and o bama administration
intervention from A
Trump intervenes in three cases of
military justice despite DOD opposition
“The foundation of
military law is the
Constitution, and the
Constitution establishes
the President’s power to
grant pardons.”
Statement from the ArmyIn with the good
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