I believe moderates will need to be driven out in order to usher in the progressive era. Barack Obama More Quotes by Barack Obama More Quotes From Barack Obama I was elected because I believed in what we call "grassroots politics," politics from the bottom up, not the top down. Barack Obama top-down bottom grassroots I was able to excite and engage people who previously hadn't been involved in politics, and part of the reason that I was able to be re-elected and stay relatively popular in the United States was because even when the economy was bad or we had problems, people sensed that I listened to them and I was on their side. Barack Obama united-states able people We have to find ways in which, collectively, we agree there's some things that government needs to do to help protect us, that in this age of non-state actors who can amass great power, I want my government - and I think the German people should want their government - to be able to find out if a terrorist organization has access to a weapon of mass destruction that might go off in the middle of Berlin. Barack Obama mass-destruction government thinking Rather than me sort of characterize the appropriateness or inappropriateness of what Donald Trump is doing at the moment, I think what we have to see is how will the President-elect operate, and how will his team operate, when they've been fully briefed on all these issues, they have their hands on all the levers of government, and they've got to start making decisions. Barack Obama team government thinking Ultimately, I remain optimistic about not just America's future, but the direction that the world is growing. Barack Obama optimistic america world One of the great things about our democracy is it expresses itself in all sorts of ways. And that includes people protesting. I've been the subject of protests during the course of my eight years and I suspect that there's not a president in our history that at some point hasn't been subject to these protests. Barack Obama eight people years If we are not serious about facts and what's true and what's not. And particularly in an age of social media where so many people are getting their information in sound bites and snippets off their phones, if we can't discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems. Barack Obama phones media people One of the things that I am concerned about is the degree to which we've seen a lot of commentary lately where there were, there are Republicans or pundits or cable commentators who seemed to have more confidence in Vladimir Putin than fellow Americans because those fellow Americans were Democrats. That cannot be. Barack Obama putin degrees republican When I talked to [Donald Trump] about - our intelligence agencies, what I've said to him is - is that there are gonna be times where you've got raw intelligence that comes in and in my experience, over eight years, the intelligence community is pretty good about saying, "Look, we can't say for certain what this means." But there are gonna be times where the only way you can make a good decision is if you have confidence that the process is working, and the people that you put in charge are giving you their very best assessments. Barack Obama eight agency mean You have to have a strong team around you [being a president]. Barack Obama team strong president I think that [having not a lot of time sweating the details] can be both a strength and a weakness. I think it depends on how [Donald Trump] approaches it. If it gives him fresh eyes, then that can be valuable. But it also requires you knowing what you don't know and putting in place people who do have the kinds of experience and background and knowledge that can inform good decision making. Barack Obama eye knowing thinking I do make sure that I've got people who are experts that are helping me make the best decisions possible. Barack Obama decision experts people I said in a forum on health care if the Republicans can come up with a system that insures more people cheaper, better I will be the first one. Barack Obama care people firsts [Afghanistan and Iraq] are still countries that are fragile enough that we're gonna have to partner with them in some way. Barack Obama iraq country way If you look at what happened, I came in the middle of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. And unlike Franklin Delano Roosevelt who waited, well, didn't take office until about three years into the Great Depression, it was happening just as I was elected. Barack Obama three office years If Democrats are not showing up in those [rural] places even if you're not gonna win right away but if you're not in there at least making an argument that, "Hey, you know what? It's the Democrats who are trying to raise your minimum wage." Barack Obama hey winning trying I was able to do that [showing up of Democratic benefits] when I was the candidate. But I've not seen or presided over that kind of systematic outreach that I think needs to happen. Barack Obama benefits needs thinking As I reflect back on what's worked for me in this [presidential] office it's been that I've gotten people who maybe didn't believe in the process to get engaged. Ironically, I've even gotten the other side that maybe didn't believe in the process to get engaged. Barack Obama office believe people [The generation engaged, inspired, worked for change] that generation, it's coming. They're not the majority yet but they're gonna be the majority soon. Barack Obama inspired majority generations The sort of seeing cruelty and callousness of that sort from young people is heartbreaking. Barack Obama heartbreaking young people
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