Obama contrasts Clinton’s pragmatism with Sanders’ idealism

In his frankest comments on the 2016 Democratic race to date, President Obama said in a podcast interview published Monday that Hillary Clinton has the skills necessary to govern and that the grassroots enthusiasm surrounding Vermont Sen.

President Obama said that Bernie Sanders’ campaign is like a “bright, shiny object that people haven’t seen before”, which is a disadvantage to Hillary Clinton.

-Obama said Clinton “can start here, day one, more experienced than any non-vice president has ever been who aspires to this office”.

In 2008, the HRC didn’t endorse then-presidential candidate Barack Obama for president until June, when it was already likely he had secured the Democratic Party nomination.

Clinton’s campaign sought to revive a debate about gun control, building on her previous criticism of Sanders’ record of backing legislation granting gun manufacturers legal immunity.

“I don’t think that’s true”, Obama said when asked whether Sanders is playing a similar role this year.

The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to questions about the endorsement. Polls show them nearly neck-and-neck there, and Sanders also has a strong chance to win in New Hampshire.

“The way I read what he said is if I didn’t get the nomination, he might consider (running)”. He acknowledged that some of Clinton’s chief assets are also her weaknesses, noting that she began the race with the “privilege and burden” of being perceived as the front-runner, and thus was under more scrutiny.

With that on his mind, Obama seemed to be nudging the Democrats toward the winning message of his political rise.

“When you’re in the White House you can not pick the issues you want to work on, you’ve got to be ready to take on every issue that comes your way, including those you can not predict”, Clinton told the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines on Monday. “I will say that the longer you go in the process, the more you’re going to have to pass a series of hurdles that the voters are going to put in front of you”.

Mr Trump, boasting about his insurgent campaign and his loyalty among voters angered by the Washington establishment, said at a campaign rally in Iowa on Saturday that his presidential bid would not suffer even if he shot someone on a crowded street.

On the Republican side, billionaire Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz are far ahead of the rest of the field of 12.