Recently, there has been a lot of negative news surrounding Biden’s presidency that has caught Americans’ attention. The accusations of public corruption against the Biden family are so credible that even news outlets like CNN and the New York Times have covered them seriously. This news is so significant that not even a full week of coverage on a submersible accident could overshadow it.

The elderly politician is struggling to maintain high approval ratings, leading some Democrats to doubt whether his administration can defeat his rival Donald Trump. There are concerns that the long campaign of “October Surprises” could ultimately result in Trump being re-elected for another four years.

According to a report from Politico Magazine, a group of congressional Democrats is looking to a younger and more charismatic figure to lead their ticket next year. This news comes during the struggles of the Biden presidency. While not as shocking as the infamous Time article that discussed a shadow cabal’s conspiracy to “fortify” the election, it is still significant.

“Is Barack Obama read to reassert himself?” the headline coyly asks. It is almost laughable in its professed innocence, but I invite the reader to suspend their disbelief at the feigned naïveté and humor the beltway publication’s premise for the sake of amusement and enlightenment.

“Former President Barack Obama has hosted a handful of informal, but lengthy private meetings with groups of next-generation House Democrats this spring, I’m told by multiple attendees,” Jonathan Martin reveals. “The initial session featured the chamber’s new trio of leaders, but he then held subsequent conversations with a range of lawmakers.”

“Included were progressive members, like Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), as well as more moderate lawmakers, such as Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and Haley Stevens (D-Mich.),” Martin joshes, as if Democrats vote in diverse coalitions, instead of as a monolithic bloc.

“The gatherings were Obama’s idea, I’m told, and were designed for the now-61-year-old former president to keep current with his party’s rising stars, more than six years after he left office,” Martin continues.

“The sessions, which took place over cheese and crackers in Obama’s Washington office, are striking for a number of reasons,” Martin adds, apparently besides the fact that it’s all just so goshdarn folksy and quaint.

“For starters, he rarely took much of an interest in counseling lawmakers when he was president,” he contends. “And while he reliably shows up on the stump each year for a number of Democrats, he’s hardly played the role of party power broker since leaving office. Podcasts, documentaries, his foundation and, yes, golf in Hawaii and on Martha’s Vineyard have taken precedence.”

“Further, there’s the Obama-Biden relationship, which was never the bromance it was made out to be and was soured by Obama effectively tapping Hillary Clinton as his would-be successor,” Martin continues. “The times Obama has appeared with Biden since the former vice-president became president have been marked by Obama overshadowing Biden.”

Biden was seen wandering around the White House while the press and Washington VIPs were fawning over former president Obama. Despite being the current president, Biden was ignored by the crowd, including his own staff. It was as if Obama had never left, and Biden eventually gave up trying to get their attention while others, such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar and VP Kamala Harris, continued to praise Obama.

The article in Politico Magazine suggests that many Democrats believe that Obama is a more successful campaigner, despite the fact that Biden holds the impressive record of being the highest vote-getter in presidential history.

“One of the gatherings, though, included members who also worked in Obama’s administration and when the former president recalled having won Florida twice, one lawmaker interjected that he also won Ohio. (Biden, few in the room needed reminding, didn’t win either state in 2020),” Martin added.

If Biden had conducted a more active campaign in 2020, it could have been beneficial to his cause. However, his campaign events were limited due to social distancing protocols, with attendance numbering only in the tens. The Politico article attempts to describe the former president’s role in modern Democratic politics, but does so in a confusing and unconvincing manner.

“For all of Obama’s one-president-at-a-time deference, one attendee complained to me that it was to the party’s detriment that Obama was so careful to avoid antagonizing Biden,” the story claims, as if the famously narcissistic Obama would restrain himself out of utmost worry that he might hurt poor Joe Biden’s feelings.

“Pointing to the former president’s popularity and rhetorical gifts, this person said Obama could help Democrats by being more of a political presence and articulating the stakes, as he did memorably if momentarily in last year’s midterms,” the story adds. “After all, Obama was willing to swallow his pride and, at crucial moments, turn to Bill Clinton for help, including in the 2012 campaign.”

To avoid wasting time on unimportant small talk, let’s focus on the real political situation. During a recent CNN interview, Barack Obama addressed the fact that Donald Trump is facing federal charges, calling it “less than ideal” for a top Republican presidential candidate.

“But the fact that we have a former president who is having to answer to charges brought by prosecutors does uphold the basic notion that nobody’s above the law,” Obama said.

Barack Obama suggested that Trump’s behavior renders him unsuitable for holding office.

“Having been president of the United States, you need a president who takes the oath of office seriously,” he said. “You need a president who believes not just in the letter, but in the spirit of democracy.”

The main focus of the oath of office is to support and uphold The Constitution of the United States, rather than defending the “spirit of democracy”, which could be interpreted as promoting mob rule. So, it’s important to not get carried away with laughter about this.

“There are checks and balances to the system, you are subjected to those checks and balances,” Obama continued. “You cannot ignore them. You cannot make your own rules. You cannot view the Justice Department as your personal law firm.”

The message suggests that the Democratic Party is currently facing challenges due to a president who is seen as ineffective and corrupt, which is damaging the party’s reputation. To overcome this, the party needs a boost of energy and excitement to distract its members from the current state of affairs. To address this issue, Barack Obama has been brought in to help, as he has done in the past during similar situations. This was hinted at by Jen Psaki, a former White House press secretary, who confirmed that Obama and Biden have frequent conversations, but did not disclose how often.

“How involved is former President Obama and first lady Obama in the Biden-Harris administration?” Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade asked Psaki.

“They’re not just former colleagues,” Psaki replied, “I guess you’d call them as president and vice president, but they also remain close friends, and they talk regularly about a range of issues from policy issues to bouncing ideas off of each other to their families. So, they are in close touch but we just don’t read out those specific calls. We keep them private.”

I understand that the White House keeps their conversations private, just like the visitor records during Joe Biden’s trips to Delaware. However, the Politico Magazine piece seems to aim at hiding the special relationship between Barack Obama and Joe Biden by blocking inquiries about the former president’s networking with important Democrats behind-the-scenes.

The former president wants to have a simple gathering with the nation’s top leaders where they can enjoy cheese and crackers and talk about past experiences in national politics. If someone thinks there is a hidden agenda behind this, they might be called a ‘far-right conspiracist,’ but we know better.