--- title: Obama at DNC Fundraiser: 'This Is a Time of Great Urgency' description: Former President Barack Obama re-emerged into the political scene at a DNC event, making subtle references to his disapproval of the current administration canonical: https://time.com/5326945/obama-dnc-fundraiser/ author: Abby Vesoulis article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-29T20:50:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:44:12.631Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'This Is a Moment of Great Urgency.' Former President Barack Obama Tries to Mobilize Democrats at Fundraiser Event og:description: Obama re-emerged into the political scene og:url: https://time.com/5326945/obama-dnc-fundraiser/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8776dd0d791e79dd/698934544ee26267fe3123a7/obama-dnc-fundraiser.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Chicago Hosts Mayors At North American Climate Summit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'This Is a Moment of Great Urgency.' Former President Barack Obama Tries to Mobilize Democrats at Fundraiser Event twitter:description: Obama re-emerged into the political scene twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8776dd0d791e79dd/698934544ee26267fe3123a7/obama-dnc-fundraiser.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'This Is a Moment of Great Urgency.' Former President Barack Obama Tries to Mobilize Democrats at Fundraiser Event  by [Abby Vesoulis](https://time.com/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis Jun 29, 2018 8:50 PM UTC  CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 05: Former president Barack Obama speaks to a gathering of more than 50 mayors and other guests during the North American Climate Summit on December 5, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. The summit was held to bring together leaders from the U.S., Canada and Mexico to commit their cities to addressing climate change at the local level. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 05: Former president Barack Obama speaks to a gathering of more than 50 mayors and other guests during the North American Climate Summit on December 5, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. The summit was held to bring together leaders from the U.S., Canada and Mexico to commit their cities to addressing climate change at the local level. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Abby Vesoulis](https://time.com/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis Jun 29, 2018 8:50 PM UTC [Former President Barack Obama](http://time.com/5302043/ben-rhodes-obama-white-house/) re-emerged into the political scene after months of maintaining a low profile, making subtle references to his disapproval of the current administration and possibly illuminating the reason behind his return to the limelight. “This is a moment of great urgency and you are right to be concerned,” Obama said at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser event in Beverly Hills, California, according to [Politico](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/29/barack-obama-advice-to-democrats-685940), though he never mentioned the administration by name. “To a large degree, we are seeing a competition between two stories,” he said, according to the [Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ahead-of-high-stakes-midterms-barack-obama-plans-a-bigger-role-in-political-races/2018/06/29/1af27090-7ae7-11e8-aeee-4d04c8ac6158%5Fstory.html?noredirect=on&utm%5Fterm=.898bd662fb90). “There’s the story that is based largely on fear, and there is a story based largely in hope. There’s the story that says we’re in it together, and there’s the story that says there’s an us and a them.” Obama also warned attendees to not grow overconfident because of the handful of Democratic special elections victories. Earlier this year, for example, Sen. Doug Jones defeated Republican candidate Roy Moore in Alabama, Rep. Conor Lamb beat out a Republican in a reliably red Pennsylvania district and Wisconsin State Sen. Patty Rivard Schachtner was victorious in a rural district that Trump won by about 17 points in the 2016 election. “I would caution us from extrapolating too much from a bunch of special elections and starting to think that, ‘okay, this will take care of itself.’ Because it won’t,” he said, according to the Washington _Post_. “I’m giving you the executive summary: Vote. Participate. Get involved.” It is the [first DNC fundraiser](https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/29/politics/obama-democrats-fundraiser/index.html) Obama has participated in this year. Obama is also spending his post-presidential free time working on details for his forthcoming [presidential library](http://time.com/3854751/president-obama-library-chicago/) in Chicago, a presidential memoir that is set to be [published by Penguin Random House](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/business/media/obama-book-deal-penguin-random-house.html) and a [production deal with Netflix](https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/barack-michelle-obama-netflix-deal-1202817723/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5326945/obama-dnc-fundraiser/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5326945/obama-dnc-fundraiser/"},"headline":"'This Is a Moment of Great Urgency.' 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