Former President Barack Obama stepped back into the political arena, offering inspiration and strategic guidance to nearly three dozen freshman House Democrats during a private gathering at the Capitol Hill event — hosted by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and moderated and co-hosted by Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) — reinforced Obama’s increasingly prominent role as mentor to the party’s next generation of leaders.
Over casual refreshments of soda, crackers and crudités, Obama urged the room of newly elected members to reject despair and stay focused through the challenges of serving in the minority. “I get feeling discouraged sometimes,” Obama acknowledged, according to excerpts shared by his office. “I get feeling worn out, tired, and embattled.” Recalling a practice from his second term, he said his chief of staff, Denis McDonough, once prepared stickers declaring “fight cynicism” — a reminder Obama told lawmakers remains as vital now as it was then. “Cynicism is our enemy,” he stressed. “And that, I think, is our most important battle.”
Throughout the evening, Obama emphasized that Democrats have come back from bleak moments before. Pointing to the political environment following the 2004 election — when Democrats lost the White House and both chambers of Congress and pundits declared a “permanent Republican majority” — he reminded lawmakers that reversals can be short-lived. “Two years later, Nancy Pelosi was the first woman Speaker of the House,” he said. “And four years later, somehow, I ended up being president.”
The message was clear: recent setbacks, including President Donald Trump’s sweeping 2024 victory across all seven battleground states, do not predetermine the party’s future. Instead, Obama told the group that the grassroots work, policy development and community engagement they invest in now “create the momentum and the opportunity for change.”
During a Q&A, Obama fielded five questions, including one from Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) about lessons from the Affordable Care Act fight. He reflected that he had “overestimated Republicans’ willingness to work with me,” and said he could have recognized sooner that GOP leaders were not negotiating in good faith.
Obama lingered after the formal discussion to speak personally with attendees, and multiple lawmakers said the encouragement — and his willingness to serve as a sounding board — came at a pivotal moment. The meeting marked only the second time in his post-presidency that Obama has convened freshman Democrats, underscoring his shift, as he described on a recent podcast, “from player to coach.”
According to a person close to him, Obama’s north star remains simple: to help build a Democratic Party strong enough “to survive without him.”
