Obama warns against ‘purity tests’ for Democratic candidates

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"2">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>Former President Barack Obama warned Democrats on Thursday against adopting &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;purity tests” in the presidential primary and said any adversity the candidates faced in the contest would make whoever emerges an even stronger nominee&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;--Ads1--><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Obama spoke to about 100 donors during a question-and-answer session with Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez in Los Altos Hills&comma; California&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The event came a day after the fifth Democratic presidential primary in Atlanta and as the 17-person field continues to expand&comma; with the expected entry of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the coming days&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Until recently&comma; Mr Obama largely refrained from opining publicly on the Democratic contest&comma; and his move from the sidelines comes at a moment of deep uncertainty for the party&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Many are jittery about the uneven candidacy of his former Vice President Joe Biden&comma; questioning whether Sens&period; Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren can defeat President Donald Trump next year&comma; and skeptical of whether Pete Buttigieg&comma; the South Bend&comma; Indiana&comma; mayor who is surging in Iowa&comma; can appeal to black voters that are a crucial Democratic voting bloc&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>You know what&comma; the country is complicated<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p><&excl;--Ads2--><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We will not win just by increasing the turnout of the people who already agree with us completely on everything&comma;” Mr Obama said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Which is why I am always suspicious of purity tests during elections&period; Because&comma; you know what&comma; the country is complicated&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Obama urged Democrats to &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;chill out&comma;” saying&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The truth of the matter is that every candidate on that stage believes we should provide” better health care and education and address climate change&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He also noted the historic diversity of the Democratic field&comma; which now includes five women&comma; three black candidates&comma; a Latino man and a gay man&period; He compared that to his own election as the nation’s first black president&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We have a number of women candidates and we have one gay candidate&period; And those candidates are going to have barriers if they win the nomination&comma; or they win the general election — just like I did&comma;” Mr Obama told donors&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You can overcome that resistance if the way you are framing these issues and messages indicate&comma; &OpenCurlyQuote;Look&comma; I’m part of an American tradition … of opening up opportunity’&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In recent weeks Mr Obama has sought to play both referee and uplifting elder statesman&period; He’s cautioned &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;woke” activists against embracing &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;cancel culture” and urged the party to not adopt positions that could cost them in the general election&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;That’s not bringing about change&comma;” he said during a recent Obama Foundation event&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;If all you are doing is casting stones&comma; you’re probably not going to get that far&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At the same time&comma; he has offered reassurances that a spirited primary will make the eventual nominee a stronger candidate&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It comes amid a fierce intra-party debate that has divided centrists and an ascendant progressive wing&comma; which has advocated for policies like free college tuition and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Medicare for All” that would dramatically reshape the role of government in peoples’ lives&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Elections are ultimately won by offering a message that appeals to voters across the demographic spectrum&comma; Mr Obama said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;--Ads3--><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We should not be somehow thinking either we’re going for our base voter of young hipsters and African Americans and single women versus Joe lunch-pail&comma; hard-hat guy&comma;” he said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Because you know what&quest; … I’ve had conversations with all those groups&comma; and they share common dreams and common hopes and a vision for what a fair&comma; just America would look like&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;--Ads4--><&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed2d6682253">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; function &lpar;&rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;if &lpar; 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