前总统巴拉克·奥巴马根据他向美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)提供的评论摘录，他周日在洛杉矶的一次活动中告诉众议院民主党人，由于他们专注于努力赢得众议院的控制权，他们不应该陷入党内的意识形态分歧，可以在以后“理清”这些分歧。
在2025年的关键选举中，民主党内部进步派和温和派之间的意识形态争论成为焦点，特别是在纽约市，民主党人就民主社会主义者的候选人资格进行了辩论佐兰·曼达尼.过去的一年，奥巴马在基层开展活动对于民主党的弗吉尼亚州和新泽西州州长候选人和和玛姆达尼谈过了在选举日之前。
该党在如何处理政府资金和平价医疗法案补贴到期的问题上也存在分歧。八名参议员与民主党人举行会议11月投票为了结束政府关门而不延长补贴，引发批评其他民主党人认为他们不应该在没有延期的情况下投票重开政府。此后，众议院民主党人表现出了很大程度上的团结，登录到少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯(Hakeem Jeffries)发起了一项请愿，要求对延长补贴三年进行投票。
奥巴马告诉议员们“专注于”在2026年中期选举中赢回共和党控制的众议院，这表明在那之后，该党可以通过这些意识形态分歧开展更多工作。
“因为我保证，当这一切完成时，我们拥有巨大的人才，随着下届总统竞选的进行，我们将有能力解决一些分歧，”根据美国广播公司新闻获得的他的讲话摘录，奥巴马说。
奥巴马在活动中与杰弗里斯交谈，该活动由民主党国会竞选委员会主办，以支持众议院民主党人。名誉议长南希·佩洛西、大约12名众议院议员和其他政党支持者参加了这次活动。
奥巴马表示，民主党的“分歧并没有那么大”——但“有时它们会被放大，因为这就是社交媒体的本质。”
奥巴马打电话给马姆达尼，提供帮助作为未来的“共鸣板”:来源
但是，奥巴马说，更进步的民主党人，如众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥·科尔特斯和参议员伯尼·桑德斯，以及温和派，如少数党领袖参议员查克·舒默和“蓝狗”民主党人“实际上同意确保人们有维持生活的工资，他们可以支持一个家庭”，以及人们享有医疗保健和不受歧视等问题。
ABC新闻就奥巴马的言论联系了奥卡西奥-科尔特斯、舒默、桑德斯和杰弗里斯的办公室。
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他补充说，虽然一些民主党人有“战术分歧”，但这不应该是我们的主要担忧，因为我们正在进行一场更大的战斗。”
“我们的工作是像激光一样关注即将到来的选举。这是短期的，”根据摘录，奥巴马说。
他还告诉众议院民主党人，虽然短期目标是赢回众议院，但长期目标是“讲述一个故事”，以“让[民主党人]回来。”但是，他补充说，“如果我们没有赢得众议院”，他们将无法让这些人回来
奥巴马告诉立法者该党在2025年的胜利虽然对他来说并不意外，但他为民主党注入了新的活力，并为讨论诸如支付能力和医疗保健等问题指明了前进的道路。
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根据奥巴马讲话的摘录，他说:“如果我们带着活力、清晰和承诺来谈论负担能力等问题，并确保人们在需要时获得医疗保健，如果他们努力工作，他们有能力支持一个家庭，并为他们的子女和孙辈创造更美好的未来……当我们传递这一信息时，它会引起人们的共鸣，我们必须对此有信心。”
巴拉克·奥巴马，卡玛拉·哈里斯为民主党竞选，唐纳德·川普的政治运作投资于投票率
他后来告诉立法者，未来的挑战是该党如何制定未来的战略，以及如果它在2026年赢得众议院，它应该做些什么。
根据他讲话的摘录，他补充说，“有了这个作为堡垒，我们现在能够阻止一些来自白宫的最糟糕的冲动。”“我们现在有一个平台来强调一些已经造成的损害，我们可以就如何处理一些重大的长期问题进行辩论。”
Barack Obama tells House Democrats that party should focus on the midterms, not ideological divides
Former PresidentBarack Obamatold House Democrats at an event on Sunday in Los Angeles that as they focus on trying to win control of the House of Representatives, they should not get caught up in ideological differences within the party and can "sort through" them later, according to excerpts of his comments provided to ABC News.
Ideological arguments within the Democratic Party between its progressive and moderate wings came into sharp focus during 2025’s key elections -- particularly in New York City, as Democrats debated over the candidacy of democratic socialistZohran Mamdani.This past year, Obamacampaigned on the groundfor the Democratic Party’s Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial candidates andspoke with Mamdaniahead of Election Day.
The party has also been divided over how to handle government funding and the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies. Eight Senators who caucus with Democratsvoted in Novemberto end a government shutdown without an extension of the subsidies,sparking criticismfrom other Democrats who felt they should not have voted to reopen the government without an extension. House Democrats have since shown a largely united front,signing ontoa discharge petition led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to force a vote on extending the subsidies for three years.
Obama told the lawmakers to "focus" on winning back the Republican-controlled House in the 2026 midterm elections, indicating that after that the party could work more through those ideological divisions.
"Because I promise, when that gets done, we have enormous talent, and we are then going to be in a position, as the next presidential campaign ramps up, to sort through some of the differences," Obama said, according to excerpts of his remarks obtained by ABC News.
Obama spoke in a conversation with Jeffries at the event, which was hosted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to support House Democrats. The event was attended by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, around a dozen members of the House, and other party supporters.
Obama said the Democratic Party's "differences aren’t that big" -- but "sometimes they get magnified because that’s the nature of social media."
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But, Obama said, more progressive Democrats such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, and moderates such as Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the "Blue Dog" Democrats "actually agree in making sure that people have a living wage, they can support a family," and on issues such as people having health care and not being discriminated against.
ABC News has reached out to the offices of Ocasio-Cortez, Schumer, Sanders and Jeffries about Obama's remarks.
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While some Democrats have "tactical differences," he added, "that shouldn’t be our primary concern because we’re fighting a bigger fight."
"Our job is to focus like a laser on this upcoming election. That’s the short term," Obama said, according to the excerpts.
He also told House Democrats that while the short-term goal is to win back the House, the longer-term goal is to "tell a story" to "bring [Democrats] back in." But, he added, they won’t be able to bring those people back in "if we don’t win the House of Representatives."
Obama told lawmakers that theparty’s wins in 2025, while not surprising for him, have reenergized the party and show a path forward for discussing issues such as affordability and health care.
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“If we bring energy and clarity and commitment to talking about things like affordability and making sure people have health care when they need it, and that they have the ability, if they work hard, to be able to support a family and create a better future for their children and their grandchildren … when we deliver that message, it resonates with people, and we have to have confidence in that,” Obama said, according to the excerpts of his remarks.
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The challenge ahead, he told lawmakers later, is how the party strategizes toward the future and what it should do if it does win the House in 2026.
"With that as a bulwark, we’re now able to block some of the worst impulses that are coming out of this White House," he added, according to the excerpts of his remarks. "We have a platform now to highlight some of the damage that’s already been done, and we can make an argument about how we’re going to deal with some big, long-term problems."
