The list of Democratic candidates former President Barack Obama is endorsing in this election cycle is more interesting for who he left out than who he named, and that is because a lot of Democratic candidates probably do not want his endorsement, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Wednesday.
"Almost every major Senate candidate in the country is not on this list," McDaniel told Fox News' "Outnumbered Overtime" host Harris Faulkner. "He's missing a lot of key House races, even House races where Hillary Clinton won [in 2016]."
The 2016 election, which President Donald Trump won by a large margin, was a "repudiation" of Obama, so many of the candidates would not want to be associated him, McDaniel said.
"It's interesting to see how many of them are not on his list that are in contested races across this country," she added.
Wednesday afternoon, Obama announced he is endorsing 81 Democrats in 13 states across the nation, and with a particular emphasis on younger, more diverse candidates running in gubernatorial and state races as well as people running for the U.S. House and Senate.
His list includes some well-known names, as well as rising figures. However, there are some names, like Rep. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and New York newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who are not included in his endorsements.
The list, however, is a first wave of endorsements from the former president, who has said he would be involved in pushing for Democrats to retake control of Congress.
McDaniel said the Democratic Party is becoming more divided, with many going further left.
"I will be interested to see how many of these candidates tout his endorsement," McDaniel said. "They don't have a leader of their party, they don't have a message. Resist and obstruct is not a message; it's a message of not getting anything done."
Meanwhile, Republicans are seeing economic growth, unemployment records at a record low, the military being funded and veterans issues being addressed under President Donald Trump, McDaniel said.
"I'm going to tell you, people want President Trump's endorsement more than they want President Obama's," she said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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