Democratic Party - Obama Presidency Oral History Democratic Party Index / Organizations Transcript Kathleen Sebelius ...in a city that really didn't have a Democratic Party . So he kind of created a Democrati... ...Party. So he kind of created a Democratic Party to run. So I grew up with a father i... ...what I did, is find the people who were Democrats in my new city; because I didn't have ... ...Kansas, so I quickly found folks in the Democratic Party and got involved and engaged righ... ...out that '94 was a terrible year for Democrats across the country, and a terrible yea... ...the country, and a terrible year for Democrats in Kansas. We lost the governor'... ...of our four members of Congress were Democrats . Both of them lost. And I was elected... ...the series of moderate Republicans and Democrats who differed on a variety of issues... ...the moderate Republicans and the Democrats is larger in number than th... ...really wide playing field often to the Democrats . So the legislative issues were ofte... ...together the coalition of moderates and Democrats , and what were the edges of tha... ...“We're not going near this,” including Democrats in Congress. I mean, they didn't ow... ...Okay, here we go! Republicans and Democrats both? Oh, yes, yes, yes. And I thin... ...both? Oh, yes, yes, yes. And I think Democrats , who chaired all the committees, wh... ...in the House and the Senate, but Democrats decided in this theory of we need t... ...I was elected in 1994, in a year where Democrats across the country were killed. And ... ...about losing the support of progressive Democrats in the summer of 2009 over the publi... ...it started. Would there have been other Democrats who would've not voted for a publi... ...a no vote. But they knew that all the Democrats would be pinned on the floor of th... ...on the drug bill and was able to bring Democrats along. Whether he could have personall... ...leadership, even though there were Democrats on both sides, did not spend a lot o... ...and this passionate debate. It was all Democrats in the room. But the House was muc... ...pricing framework into a bill, if the Democrats were going to pass a bill, if he wa... ...eleven years ago, there were not enough Democrats to put any kind of pricing framewor... ...a number of members on that committee, Democrats , who were quite alarmed by what the... ...in a city that really didn't have a Democratic Party . So he kind of created a Democrati... ...Party. So he kind of created a Democratic Party to run. So I grew up with a father i... ...what I did, is find the people who were Democrats in my new city; because I didn't have ... ...Kansas, so I quickly found folks in the Democratic Party and got involved and engaged righ... ...out that '94 was a terrible year for Democrats across the country, and a terrible yea... ...the country, and a terrible year for Democrats in Kansas. We lost the governor'... ...of our four members of Congress were Democrats . Both of them lost. And I was elected... ...the series of moderate Republicans and Democrats who differed on a variety of issues... ...the moderate Republicans and the Democrats is larger in number than th... ...really wide playing field often to the Democrats . So the legislative issues were ofte... ...together the coalition of moderates and Democrats , and what were the edges of tha... ...“We're not going near this,” including Democrats in Congress. I mean, they didn't ow... ...Okay, here we go! Republicans and Democrats both? Oh, yes, yes, yes. And I thin... ...both? Oh, yes, yes, yes. And I think Democrats , who chaired all the committees, wh... ...in the House and the Senate, but Democrats decided in this theory of we need t... ...I was elected in 1994, in a year where Democrats across the country were killed. And ... ...about losing the support of progressive Democrats in the summer of 2009 over the publi... ...it started. Would there have been other Democrats who would've not voted for a publi... ...a no vote. But they knew that all the Democrats would be pinned on the floor of th... ...on the drug bill and was able to bring Democrats along. Whether he could have personall... ...leadership, even though there were Democrats on both sides, did not spend a lot o... ...and this passionate debate. It was all Democrats in the room. But the House was muc... ...pricing framework into a bill, if the Democrats were going to pass a bill, if he wa... ...eleven years ago, there were not enough Democrats to put any kind of pricing framewor... ...a number of members on that committee, Democrats , who were quite alarmed by what the... ...in a city that really didn't have a Democratic Party . So he kind of created a Democrati... ...Party. So he kind of created a Democratic Party to run. So I grew up with a father i... ...what I did, is find the people who were Democrats in my new city; because I didn't have ... ...Kansas, so I quickly found folks in the Democratic Party and got involved and engaged righ... ...out that '94 was a terrible year for Democrats across the country, and a terrible yea... ...the country, and a terrible year for Democrats in Kansas. We lost the governor'... ...of our four members of Congress were Democrats . Both of them lost. And I was elected... ...the series of moderate Republicans and Democrats who differed on a variety of issues... ...the moderate Republicans and the Democrats is larger in number than th... ...really wide playing field often to the Democrats . So the legislative issues were ofte... ...together the coalition of moderates and Democrats , and what were the edges of tha... ...“We're not going near this,” including Democrats in Congress. I mean, they didn't ow... ...Okay, here we go! Republicans and Democrats both? Oh, yes, yes, yes. And I thin... ...both? Oh, yes, yes, yes. And I think Democrats , who chaired all the committees, wh... ...in the House and the Senate, but Democrats decided in this theory of we need t... ...I was elected in 1994, in a year where Democrats across the country were killed. And ... ...about losing the support of progressive Democrats in the summer of 2009 over the publi... ...it started. Would there have been other Democrats who would've not voted for a publi... ...a no vote. But they knew that all the Democrats would be pinned on the floor of th... ...on the drug bill and was able to bring Democrats along. Whether he could have personall... ...leadership, even though there were Democrats on both sides, did not spend a lot o... ...and this passionate debate. It was all Democrats in the room. But the House was muc... ...pricing framework into a bill, if the Democrats were going to pass a bill, if he wa... ...eleven years ago, there were not enough Democrats to put any kind of pricing framewor... ...a number of members on that committee, Democrats , who were quite alarmed by what the... Show more... Lisa Jackson ...introduce you to a couple of the cool Democrats [laughter] before the hearing. It'... Max Baucus ...Health Committee— Sorry, the— The Democrats in the—or the House itself, release... ...conversation in the White House and Democratic Party that some of the Democrats ar... ...and Democratic Party that some of the Democrats are beginning to fea... ...political sensitivities to House Democrats was maybe not as strong as some of the... ...by that point, it's, “Rally the Democrats , strengthen their spines. Let's ge... ...they didn't care. And a lot of the Democrats always found me a little suspec... ...call me. Reid never called me. No other Democrats —Obama never called me. Nobody calle... ...organized labor is closer to the House Democrats than to the Senate Democrats or to th... ...a White House meeting of all the Democrats to combine the two bills. And the cos... ...pretty acrimonious between the House Democrats and the Senate Democrats. I wa... ...that there were any deeper rifts in the Democratic Party that get surfaced in this meeting or i... ...more middle-of-the-road, if you will, Democrats . Did you have any sense of that in th... ...pass the Senate. And of course, House Democrats wanted—they generally want more. That'... ...point, or is this all pretty much a Democratic Party show? Not that I'm aware of. It's al... ...much the ACA would be something that Democrats could be beaten by electorally in th... ...the meaning of the bill for the Democrats electorally? I'm just one person. ... ...I, at the time, frankly, felt that Democrats could either run on it or weather th... ...everything is fine.” I then went to Democrats -only full committee, privately only... ...effect on the relationships between the Democrats and Republicans on your committee, o... ...that—and this often is the case—the Democrats a little naive, a little bi... ...flat footed, frankly. When you said Democrats typically being presumptuous... ...in that regard, if you thought if the Democrats should get rid of the filibuster—no... ...short term, yes. Therefore, then, the Democrats have the votes. But that assumes, well... ...was not until November '14. Clearly Democrats wanted to keep the seat. So it was a... ...the Senate. Some of the very left-wing Democrats didn't like that too much. In fact, ... ...here that show [laughs] how much some Democrats were very upset with me. I thought i... ...Health Committee— Sorry, the— The Democrats in the—or the House itself, release... ...conversation in the White House and Democratic Party that some of the Democrats ar... ...and Democratic Party that some of the Democrats are beginning to fea... ...political sensitivities to House Democrats was maybe not as strong as some of the... ...by that point, it's, “Rally the Democrats , strengthen their spines. Let's ge... ...they didn't care. And a lot of the Democrats always found me a little suspec... ...call me. Reid never called me. No other Democrats —Obama never called me. Nobody calle... ...organized labor is closer to the House Democrats than to the Senate Democrats or to th... ...a White House meeting of all the Democrats to combine the two bills. And the cos... ...pretty acrimonious between the House Democrats and the Senate Democrats. I wa... ...that there were any deeper rifts in the Democratic Party that get surfaced in this meeting or i... ...more middle-of-the-road, if you will, Democrats . Did you have any sense of that in th... ...pass the Senate. And of course, House Democrats wanted—they generally want more. That'... ...point, or is this all pretty much a Democratic Party show? Not that I'm aware of. It's al... ...much the ACA would be something that Democrats could be beaten by electorally in th... ...the meaning of the bill for the Democrats electorally? I'm just one person. ... ...I, at the time, frankly, felt that Democrats could either run on it or weather th... ...everything is fine.” I then went to Democrats -only full committee, privately only... ...effect on the relationships between the Democrats and Republicans on your committee, o... ...that—and this often is the case—the Democrats a little naive, a little bi... ...flat footed, frankly. When you said Democrats typically being presumptuous... ...in that regard, if you thought if the Democrats should get rid of the filibuster—no... ...short term, yes. Therefore, then, the Democrats have the votes. But that assumes, well... ...was not until November '14. Clearly Democrats wanted to keep the seat. So it was a... ...the Senate. Some of the very left-wing Democrats didn't like that too much. In fact, ... ...here that show [laughs] how much some Democrats were very upset with me. I thought i... Show more... Peter Orszag ...at least part of the left wing of the Democratic Party , that my call for combining th... Regina Benjamin ...then we'd just chitchat [laughs]. The Democrats gave me more questions [laughs] an... Richard Trumka ...since the Great Depression. Yes. Democrats are only elected right in the middle o... ...were fed up. And they saw Wall Street; Democrats had helped deregulate Wall Street. Tha... ...of Eight, four Republicans and four Democrats , to come up with a bill until [Marc... ...issue. It would've been horrible. The Democrats would've been a minority party foreve... Steven Chu ...there was always this big push. The Democrats , on one hand, tend to want to hav... Sylvia Burwell ...at that time is, we're Yellow Dog Democrats , because you'd vote for a yellow do... ...They had a good beat on, and talking to Democrats , too, often have a beat on it becaus... ...with us too. We had to have our House Democrats . And similarly, Paul had to kee... ...of problems or challenges. You know, Democrats thought the passage of x-healt... ...and from the Senate, Republicans and Democrats , and it was called the common-groun... ...at that time is, we're Yellow Dog Democrats , because you'd vote for a yellow do... ...They had a good beat on, and talking to Democrats , too, often have a beat on it becaus... ...with us too. We had to have our House Democrats . And similarly, Paul had to kee... ...of problems or challenges. You know, Democrats thought the passage of x-healt... ...and from the Senate, Republicans and Democrats , and it was called the common-groun... Show more... Tom Harkin ...I got involved with Young Democrats [of America], became the head of th... ...America], became the head of the Young Democrats at Iowa State University. A histor... ...votes. Well, okay, so there were some Democrats . But you can get a Democrat. You ca... ...“No, we've got to play politics with Democrats , not with Republicans.” For example... ...one time, there are three times the Democratic Party failed labor, and in such a way that i... ...it. All that year, I had meetings with Democrats — [laughs] not Republicans, jus... ...[laughs] not Republicans, just Democrats —trying to get everybody on board, s... ...between organized labor and the Democratic Party ? It's always amazed me how man... ...can't say it's a hundred percent due to Democrats who didn't stick up for them, but ... ...Well, I would introduce it when we, Democrats , were in the minority. So we lost th... ...in the majority in the Senate. The Democrats are in the majority in the Senate. Bu... ...used the filibuster. The Southern Democrats , along with others, would use th... ...Republicans. We had liberal Democrats and conservative Democrats. And in tha... ...conservative Democrats. We had Southern Democrats like Howell Heflin from Alabama, an... ...conservatives from Georgia that were Democrats . Mostly there, and some from th... ...than I am. And some moderate Democrats and liberal Democrats. But in th... ...And some moderate Democrats and liberal Democrats . But in the Republican Party, it'... ...in '08, obviously. We had two other Democrats . We had two Democrats in the Congress... ...We had two other Democrats. We had two Democrats in the Congress, if I'm no... ...more than anything else in Iowa—we, Democrats , have lost more than anything else—ar... ...people to run for those county offices. Democrats have just fallen down on it. Many o... ...of them had a majority of Democrats in county offices, or if not ... ...they have a much deeper bench than the Democrats do in Iowa, because they have people i... ...clean water, and that kind of thing. Democrats are more policy oriented, sometimes, i... ...I'm talking about Social Security. “The Democratic Party , with a Democratic president, is no... ...wanted to cut the payroll tax. Well, Democrats got all up in arms about it. Well, ... ...that, too. I was one of the few Democrats to vote against him. Why? Because whe... ...I got involved with Young Democrats [of America], became the head of th... ...America], became the head of the Young Democrats at Iowa State University. A histor... ...votes. Well, okay, so there were some Democrats . But you can get a Democrat. You ca... ...“No, we've got to play politics with Democrats , not with Republicans.” For example... ...one time, there are three times the Democratic Party failed labor, and in such a way that i... ...it. All that year, I had meetings with Democrats — [laughs] not Republicans, jus... ...[laughs] not Republicans, just Democrats —trying to get everybody on board, s... ...between organized labor and the Democratic Party ? It's always amazed me how man... ...can't say it's a hundred percent due to Democrats who didn't stick up for them, but ... ...Well, I would introduce it when we, Democrats , were in the minority. So we lost th... ...in the majority in the Senate. The Democrats are in the majority in the Senate. Bu... ...used the filibuster. The Southern Democrats , along with others, would use th... ...Republicans. We had liberal Democrats and conservative Democrats. And in tha... ...conservative Democrats. We had Southern Democrats like Howell Heflin from Alabama, an... ...conservatives from Georgia that were Democrats . Mostly there, and some from th... ...than I am. And some moderate Democrats and liberal Democrats. But in th... ...And some moderate Democrats and liberal Democrats . But in the Republican Party, it'... ...in '08, obviously. We had two other Democrats . We had two Democrats in the Congress... ...We had two other Democrats. We had two Democrats in the Congress, if I'm no... ...more than anything else in Iowa—we, Democrats , have lost more than anything else—ar... ...people to run for those county offices. Democrats have just fallen down on it. Many o... ...of them had a majority of Democrats in county offices, or if not ... ...they have a much deeper bench than the Democrats do in Iowa, because they have people i... ...clean water, and that kind of thing. Democrats are more policy oriented, sometimes, i... ...I'm talking about Social Security. “The Democratic Party , with a Democratic president, is no... ...wanted to cut the payroll tax. Well, Democrats got all up in arms about it. Well, ... ...that, too. I was one of the few Democrats to vote against him. Why? Because whe... Show more... Zeke Emanuel ...disagreement between Republicans and Democrats about the government's role i... ...That insult to a president, to the Democratic Party —that stiffened people's spine on th... ...it stiffened the resolve, reminded the Democrats this isn't base politics; this is rea... ...certain parts of the bill. Even among Democrats , the level of hostility and rea... ...between Senate Democrats and House Democrats . Yeah, absolutely. For a long tim... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Climate, Environment, and Energy Climate, Environment, and Energy go to the Healthcare Healthcare Republican Opposition Coming soon Counterterrorism Coming soon Black Politics Coming soon