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Obama May Be Key to Democratic Convention

July 25, 2016 at 8:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Mark Murray: “This Democratic convention is Hillary Clinton’s party. But the person who’s hovering over it — and still shaping the overall Democratic Party’s policies, tone and temperament — is the man speaking Wednesday night: President Obama. Indeed, Obama could very well be the most important figure in the presidential contest between now and Election Day, whether it’s galvanizing Clinton’s supporters or motivating Donald Trump’s.”

“Obama’s job-approval rating stands at 51 percent in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal — the third-straight NBC/WSJ survey where his approval has been above 50 percent. What’s more, nearly half of American voters (49 percent) give the president credit for what they say is the country’s improving economy. ‘Those are powerful assets for the Clinton campaign,’ said Fred Yang, a Democratic pollster who co-conducts the NBC/WSJ survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff.”

Obama Prohibits Cabinet from Speaking at Convention

July 4, 2016 at 7:33 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The White House has forbidden members of President Obama’s cabinet to address the Democratic National Convention this month, a stark break from past policy that is intended to avoid the appearance that the administration’s final months are being consumed by the politics of Hillary Clinton’s campaign,” the New York Times reports.

Obama After Dark

July 2, 2016 at 9:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Mr. Obama calls himself a ‘night guy,’ and as president, he has come to consider the long, solitary hours after dark as essential as his time in the Oval Office. Almost every night that he is in the White House, Mr. Obama has dinner at 6:30 with his wife and daughters and then withdraws to the Treaty Room, his private office down the hall from his bedroom on the second floor of the White House residence.”

“There, his closest aides say, he spends four or five hours largely by himself.”

“He works on speeches. He reads the stack of briefing papers delivered at 8 p.m. by the National Security Council staff secretary. He reads 10 letters from Americans chosen each day by his staff… The president also watches ESPN, reads novels or plays Words With Friends on his iPad.”

“Michelle Obama occasionally pops in, but she goes to bed before the president, who is up so late he barely gets five hours of sleep a night. For Mr. Obama, the time alone has become more important.”

Obama’s Rising Approval Isn’t Helping Clinton

June 30, 2016 at 5:47 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Amy Walter: “President Obama has gotten a bump in his numbers, but they aren’t transferring to his party. Nor do they seem to be related to better feelings among Americans about the state of the economy or the direction of the country. In fact, the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found Trump with a ten point advantage over Clinton on the question of who’d best ‘deal with the economy.'”

“At this point, at least, Americans seem to be making clear distinctions about their feelings of the president and those in his party. Yes, Hillary Clinton’s fate is tied somewhat to Obama’s success. The worse they feel about him and his Administration, the harder it is for her to convince Americans to support a third Democratic term in the White House. But, it’s also true that she has her own liabilities that make it difficult for Obama’s approval ratings to “transfer” to her. She represents not only the “status quo” but she’s a candidate with deep and enduring negatives that even a popular president can’t erase.”

Quote of the Day

June 23, 2016 at 8:49 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 60 Comments

“There’s no successful businessman in America who actually thinks the most successful businessman in America is Donald Trump.”

— President Obama, in an interview with Bloomberg.

Clinton Takes Control of Obama’s Email List

June 22, 2016 at 8:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 14 Comments

The Hill: “The long-awaited move, which comes as Clintonites take the reins of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), could inject more money into Clinton’s campaign coffers as she seeks to expand her fundraising advantage over presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.”

“The Obama list has long been seen as a political gold mine for Democrats. Obama’s campaign raked in around $500 million through email and online donations in the 2012 cycle alone, according to media reports.”

Trump Doubles-Down on Theory Obama Supports ISIS

June 15, 2016 at 3:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 103 Comments

Donald Trump said today he was right to imply that President Obama is an ISIS sympathizer, ABC News reports.

In an attempt to defend his controversial claims that the president supports the terrorist group, Trump tweeted a story from Breitbart.com that cites a newly discovered “secret” memo the website says proves Obama is an ISIS supporter.

Trump Says Obama More Angry With Him Than Shooter

June 14, 2016 at 9:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 125 Comments

Donald Trump responded to President Obama’s criticism of his rhetoric on Islam and terrorism, “accusing the president of directing his anger at him rather than at the perpetrator of Sunday’s mass shooting in Florida,” Politico reports.

Said Trump: “He was more angry at me than he was at the shooter, and many people said that. One of the folks on television said, ‘Boy, has Trump gotten under his skin.’ That’s the kind of anger he should have for the shooter and these killers that shouldn’t be here.”

He added: “Boy, does he hate Donald Trump.”

‘Orange Is Not the New Black’

June 10, 2016 at 7:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 20 Comments

Before leaving the White House in seven months, President Obama took a few minutes with Jimmy Fallon to “slow-jam the news” and go through the accomplishments, Politico reports.

Obama Is Finally Ready to Campaign for Clinton

June 6, 2016 at 10:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 120 Comments

President Obama, “after months of sitting on the sidelines of the rancorous contest to succeed him, is now ready to aggressively campaign for Hillary Clinton, starting with a formal endorsement of her candidacy as early as this week,” the New York Times reports.

“The White House is in active conversations with Mrs. Clinton’s campaign about how and where the president would be useful to her… Advisers say that the president, who sees a Democratic successor as critical to his legacy, is impatient to begin campaigning. They say he is taking nothing for granted.”

The Early Winner In 2016 Is Obama

June 3, 2016 at 10:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 134 Comments

Eugene Robinson: “There remains the technical impediment that the president is constitutionally barred from a third term. But the longer the campaign goes on, the higher Obama’s approval rating rises. This should be bad for Donald Trump and good for the eventual Democratic nominee, almost certainly Hillary Clinton. But it is even better for Obama’s legacy.”

“According to Gallup, which has been charting the nation’s assessment of its presidents longer than anyone else, Obama’s approval stands at 52 percent, compared with 44 percent disapproval. That may not look impressive but it is actually quite good for a president nearing the end of his second term; Ronald Reagan, by comparison, had 49 percent approval at this point in his tenure.”

“We tend to appreciate presidents more after they leave office. The inevitable reassessment of the Obama years seems to be starting early — perhaps in apprehension of the years to come. Even Obama’s harshest critics have to admit he was a steady hand in the White House. Reflection upon this fact can only increase Clinton’s chances against a man who prides himself on being combative, capricious and cocksure.”

Trump Threatens to Hit Obama If He Campaigns

June 2, 2016 at 7:28 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 151 Comments

Donald Trump, “lashing back at Barack Obama after the president waded forcefully into the presidential campaign,” threatened to turn the president’s attacks on him in retaliation, McClatchy reports.

Said Trump: “This is a president who doesn’t have a clue. If he campaigns, that means I’m allowed to hit him, just like I hit Bill Clinton.”

Obama Approval Will Help Clinton

May 24, 2016 at 9:03 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 24 Comments

First Read: “There are plenty of storylines and new numbers from our latest national NBC/WSJ poll, but here’s maybe the most important number of all: 51% — as in President Obama’s approval rating, which is his highest mark in the poll since his second inauguration. Why is it important? Because it means that Obama will be an asset to Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail unlike he was in the 2014 midterms, when his approval rating was in the low 40s.”

“Of course, an incumbent president with a 50%-plus job-approval rating isn’t a guarantee for a party keeping the White House — see 2000. But it’s certainly better than what Republicans experienced in 2008, when George W. Bush’s rating was 27% in our April 2008 NBC/WSJ poll. Our current poll found only 39% saying they would consider voting for Obama if he could run for a third term, but it’s higher than the 34% who said this about Bill Clinton in Sept. 2000. And 78% of African Americans, 72% of Democrats, 62% of Latinos, and 50% of those ages 18-34 said they would consider voting for Obama again if they could.”

Obama’s War Legacy

May 15, 2016 at 9:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 41 Comments

“President Obama came into office seven years ago pledging to end the wars of his predecessor, George W. Bush. On May 6, with eight months left before he vacates the White House, Mr. Obama passed a somber, little-noticed milestone: He has now been at war longer than Mr. Bush, or any other American president,” the New York Times reports.

“If the United States remains in combat in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria until the end of Mr. Obama’s term — a near-certainty given the president’s recent announcement that he will send 250 additional Special Operations forces to Syria — he will leave behind an improbable legacy as the only president in American history to serve two complete terms with the nation at war.”

Will Clinton Just Repeat the Obama Presidency?

May 3, 2016 at 1:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 133 Comments

American Prospect: “Hillary Clinton would come into office without ambitions for the kind of big, transformative bills Obama passed. Nevertheless, her administration could follow exactly the same pattern: two years in which to pass legislation, followed by a Republican victory that robs her of any hope of making new laws with Congress’s help. And that’s if she’s lucky.”

“The best-case scenario for Clinton is that she gets her Democratic Congress in those first two years—with extremely small margins, particularly in the House. And then what happens in 2018? Presidents almost always lose ground in Congress in off-year elections, and given the more Republican-friendly cast of the off-year electorate (older and more white, for starters), Republicans would be highly likely to take back the House. Even if Democrats take the Senate this year, it will be very hard for them to hold on to it.”

“Republicans may despise Hillary Clinton even more than they do Obama. So whatever she can accomplish will be only over their most fevered and absolute opposition. Getting anything through Congress won’t be easy—and she’ll have precious little time to do it.”

Sanders Delays Obama’s Plans

April 5, 2016 at 6:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 54 Comments

Politico: “Aides had expected the primary race to be wrapping up by this point, according to White House sources, and for Obama to be gearing up for a series of big unity rallies to urge Sanders supporters to get excited about Hillary Clinton.”

“Instead, Sanders is expected to win Wisconsin on Tuesday, and has the money and support to keep going as long as he wants and no Democratic Party loyalty or elder statesman to urge him to step back. That’s forcing the White House to recalibrate its political plans, delaying the opportunity for Obama to hit the campaign trail and capitalize on public approval levels unseen since his re-election campaign.”

Obama Will Campaign Heavily In 2016

March 17, 2016 at 8:34 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 35 Comments

“As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton begin to tighten their grips on their respective party nominations, President Obama is plunging into the campaign fray, not only to help Democrats retain the White House but in defense of his own legacy in a political climate dominated by Trump,” the Washington Post reports.

“Obama and his top aides have been strategizing for weeks about how they can reprise his successful 2008 and 2012 approaches to help elect a Democrat to replace him. And out of concern that a Republican president in 2017 — either Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz — would weaken or reverse some of his landmark policies, Obama and his surrogates have started making the case that it is essential for the GOP to be defeated in November.”

“As a result, Obama is poised to be the most active sitting president on the campaign trail in decades.”

Obama Finally Gets Behind Clinton

March 17, 2016 at 7:34 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 35 Comments

“In unusually candid remarks, President Obama privately told a group of Democratic donors last Friday that Senator Bernie Sanders is nearing the point where his campaign against Hillary Clinton will come to an end, and that the party must soon come together to back her,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Obama acknowledged that Mrs. Clinton is perceived to have weaknesses as a candidate, and that some Democrats did not view her as authentic. But he played down the importance of authenticity, noting that President George W. Bush — whose record he ran aggressively against in 2008 — was once praised for his authenticity.”