I had an unfair advantage over Hillary in 2008: Obama
With a week left until Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday implored a packed middle school cafeteria to support her, criticizing presidential contenders on both sides of the aisle. This is the final debate for the Democratic candidates before the Iowa caucuses.
He is running on a pledge of political revolution, one that builds on what he sees as the country’s great moments of change: the rise of trade unions, the legalization of gay marriage, and yes, Obama’s unexpected victory in the 2008 Iowa caucuses. But he lauded her experience: “It means that she can govern and she can start here, day one, more experienced than any non-vice-president has ever been who aspires to this office”.
Throughout the early Democratic primary race, President Barack Obama has remained mostly quiet, only occasionally weighing in on the battle to succeed him. “She had to, you know, handle all the expectations that were placed on her”, the president said.
Her rival Sanders, meanwhile, arrived on the campaign trail with the luxury of being a long shot whose attitude is, “I’ve got nothing to lose”, as Obama put it, and Sanders thus immediately set up a contrast with Clinton. “It will tell people what I have been saying for a long time”, Sanders said, “that this country is moving away from democracy to oligarchy, that billionaires are the people who are controlling our political life”.
While the paper praised Sanders for bringing issues of income inequality to the forefront of the primary race-and expressed qualms about Clinton’s record on financial issues-ultimately they deemed the former secretary of state has best demonstrated a capacity to accomplish policy goals.
“You know, that has an appeal”, Obama said.
President Obama talked at some length about 2016 politics with Politico’s “Off Message” podcast, which was released this morning.
The editorial board of the Boston Globe said it was basing its endorsement of Clinton not on “the weakness of her opponents” but on her “demonstrated strengths and experiences”.
The interview was the first time Obama discussed in detail the Democratic race and comes just ahead of the first contests to pick a nominee for the November election: Iowa, on February 1, and New Hampshire, on February 9.
“I know Michael very well and would love to compete with him”.
Donald Trump has said he wants to run against Sanders, who he has characterized as a “little puppy”.
And he acknowledged his own weaknesses as an untested national candidate in 2008 in the high-stakes campaign in Iowa. “[The] Republican vision has moved not just to the right, but has moved to a place that is unrecognizable”, Obama said, pointing to Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who has called for a “complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the US.
“I am a conservative”, Trump, endorsed this week by 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, said on NBC.