Why Hasn't Obama Endorsed Hillary Yet?

[berni_mccoy]

Given that the White House has already admitted they expected to start campaigning for the nominee at this point, that means they expected Hillary to close the deal, which she hasn't. Furthermore, that admission by the White House is a total slap in the face of the Hillary campaign... It is an open expression of disappointment that she hasn't won yet.

Obama could have tilted the scales heavily in her favor earlier in the campaign by endorsing her... But he didn't. There are only a few plausible explanations for that:

1. Hillary asked him not to. I know it seems contrarian, but if he had done it earlier, it may not have gained her much. She was already set to win the South by large margins so she didn't need him then. And she has since distanced herself from him after winning the south, which implies any kind of endorsement would have hurt her in later contests.

2. Obama knows that an indictment from the FBI is a real possibility. If he endorses her and she or her staff is indicted before the convention, it hurts Bernie's chances in the GE and makes the White House look terrible afterward. Not to mention the fact that if the FBI recommends indictment and he's endorsed her, he's going to have to go through with it in order to not look corrupt.

3. Obama doesn't really want to endorse her. This is also a real possibility and he could have been waiting for her to close the deal before endorsing her to not put off Sanders supporters. Now that she hasn't, he's calling her out for it and using it as an excuse that they can't start to campaign for her yet.

No matter how you look at it, the lack of endorsement from Obama so far only says terrible things about Hillary's campaign. And if Obama lacks confidence in her, Democratic voters will as well.

[metroins]

1. He's already said he won't sway the primary

Bernie supporters still think he has a chance, it would be undignified to endorse while Bernie still thinks he can win.

[berni_mccoy]

5. Yes yes, that's the outward explanation he gave early on.

But the lack of endorsement now followed by the open admission that her failure to close the deal is holding them up is a completely different message.

[Dem2]

23. Yes, agreed

It fits with my expectations of him as well.

[Trust Buster]

2. Because Sanders won't concede. I think he will by the end of April, regardless of Sanders.

[revbones]

6. Good luck on that one.

You must not think very highly of Obama if you believe that.

[Trust Buster]

12. You must not be reading between the lines of the President's comments then.

One candidate was his Secretary of State who vows to build on his legacy while the other threatens to tear it down. I think the President will give Sanders to the end of April and then he'll move ahead with Hillary.

[revbones]

19. Got a few leaps of logic there...

"while the other threatens to tear it down". Nice, that sure proves your point.

[Trust Buster]

25. You can't deny that the ACA is the President's main domestic accomplishment.

You also can't deny that Sanders wants to repeal and replace it. No leap. The President will endorse Hillary with or without a Sanders concession.

[revbones]

33. Sure.... Show me a single quote (if you can), where Bernie said he wants to repeal the ACA.

Wow. It's hard to believe people actually bought into Clinton's lie about that so badly.

[berni_mccoy]

10. As Hillary Fans Love To Point Out... MATH.

She doesn't have the opportunity to close the deal by the end of April. Bernie's got enough momentum to carry him to the convention. It will be close and she may not have enough delegates to declare the win by July.

[auntpurl]

18. She won't have the number of pledged delegates

but if Hillary blows Bernie out in NY, I suspect Bernie will concede. He cannot afford to lose NY by large margins.

No, I'm not ADVOCATING he concedes, but I think he will, if the contest isn't close.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

3. The attacks of Hillary go on here all day long. Endless it seems.

I am glad my candidate, Bernie Sanders, doesn't have to deal with this much hatred.

yet.

[panader0]

38. Like I said before Jackie--your cover is blown

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1652406

[Jackie Wilson Said]

39. Stop LYING to people, I was commenting on how ludicrous it is to but Bernie's name

with Trump's

Lying like you do is unbecoming.

[Lil Missy]

4. Simple answer. Because until Bernie drops out, there's still a Primary contest going on.

[BlueCaliDem]

7. He already has. You haven't been paying attention. The AA community knows it already. It's why they

are supporting Hillary.

But should President Obama come out and endorse Hillary Clinton now, Bernie's campaign will be OVER. Bet on it.

So you, as a Bernie supporter, should be grateful he hasn't officially endorsed Hillary.

[dchill]

8. Why was Bernie called to the WH before the Iowa Caucus?

[CoffeeCat]

17. Very interesting question

Will we ever know?

Bernie had events scheduled in Iowa that day. This was NOT a pre-scheduled meeting as has been reported. The Des Moines Register had Bernie scheduled for an appearance that day.

To be pulled off the campaign trail like that, and called into the White House--was interesting, to say the least.

If there was something to discuss, why not discuss it over the phone or email?

The line that this was a meeting scheduled long ago, appears to be untrue, because he did have events scheduled in Iowa that day.

It's all very interesting.

[Samantha]

31. Funny this topic should surface at this moment in time

For absolutely no reason, I started thinking about that day a week or so ago. There was never a reason announced why Bernie had to drop everything and go to see President Obama. After he left, there were zero rumors about the meeting.

I have to wonder if in private President Obama told him the FBI was investigating Hillary Clinton and had been for months. He probably said he didn't know how long the investigation would continue, but when the FBI finished its part, the matter would be referred to the DOJ. He also probably said he did not know how it would turn out but that Bernie needed to know the score so he could conduct himself accordingly, but obviously not sharing this information with anyone. Why would he do that? Because if Bernie started receiving a lot of pressure to drop out as a result of being behind (which of course he did) it would not overall serve the party well.

So what I am dancing around here without coming right out and saying it is that Obama was thinking if Hillary had to drop out of the race because of circumstances related to the FBI investigation, Obama wanted the party to have at least one candidate in place that could beat Trump. (Obviously with Sanders' opposition to the TPP well known, he would not be Obama's first choice, but the Democratic party being caught with its pants down and having Hillary leave the race right after Bernie dropped out would be a catastrophe to the overall goal of winning the GE). Sure they would try to drop-kick someone else in but who knows if that would be successful--they need at least two eligible candidates).

So there you have it -- no facts, just the fruits of my imagination.

Sam

[CoffeeCat]

35. I think that meeting and what was really said

Last edited Tue Apr 5, 2016, 04:15 PM - Edit history (2)

remains a mystery. We were told that the meeting was arranged months in advance. Bernie had Iowa events on his calendar for that day. So, we weren't told the truth about that, so it is normal to speculate about what is going on.

I find it interesting that this was an in-person meeting. The meeting also happened a day or two after Obama made glowing, very public comments about Hillary. The comments in that 1/25 Politico article were over the top and frankly unnecessary, especially if Obama won't endorse until after the primary is settled (which Obama has clearly said is the case, many times).

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/obama-iowa-2016-sanders-off-message-218166

Then, Obama met with Bernie on 1/27.

Obviously, it was important to someone that Obama's alliances to Hillary appeared ironclad, before Bernie's meeting with Obama.

Also, another point. Maybe Sanders does know information about we don't. Sanders has contrasted his views with Hillary's stances and at times has gone after her. But we all know that he's scratched the surface. He could completely annihilate Hillary on so many points. Furthermore, he's even given her a free pass on the email scandal. Maybe, you don't completely attack someone who you know is going down, if you know they're doing down. What's the point? You fight the good fight, but you don't need to come out guns a blazing, if you have inside info that they're doomed.

Regarding her email investigation, I think it's been apparent for quite a while what laws Clinton violated; and how she broke those laws. The FBI has an electronic trail of everything she's done. My guess is that when they sit down to interview her (and she will be the last interview, it's been reported) it won't be much of an interview. They will be laying out the case against her in very specific detail. The interview with Clinton is most likely the period at the end of this investigation.

I think it's been very, very clear for a long time that what she did is incredibly serious--and unprecedented.

So, it wouldn't surprise me at all if there's been a great deal going on behind the scenes.

[Samantha]

41. Thanks for walking me through your thinking

I hope we know something before the convention. These are very stressful days, and I guess they are going to become even more difficult.

Sam

[Betty Karlson]

42. Facinating and illuminating subthread.

Thanks to both of you for sharing your thoughts.

[CoffeeCat]

9. She's staring down the barrel of an FBI interrogation

that will most likely happen before the end of April.

I can't imagine Obama endorsing before it's a bit more clear where the investigation into her private, unsecured email server is headed.

[berni_mccoy]

11. Comey said that's not likely... The investigation will be drawn out most likely passed July

[CoffeeCat]

21. It's been widely reported

that Clinton will be interviewed in the coming days. The most widely reported information, via numerous media outlets, was that these interviews (with her staff and Clinton herself) were within "days and weeks, not months".

Has Comey indicated that this is not the case?

I imagine that this investigation itself will drag on, but I thought the interviews were imminent.

[dragonfly301]

30. I'd like to know

why did Obama choose Comey to be FBI chief when Comey investigated the Clintons 20 years ago and had some not so complimentary things to say about Hillary. From the Time Magazine article his conclusions after the Whitewater investigations - “a highly improper pattern of deliberate misconduct.” So why pick that guy to be the FBI Director in 2013 - did Obama know about the private server by then? Did he know that Sid Blumenthal had been very much involved in Hillary's State Dept - against Obama's wishes - by then?

[CoffeeCat]

34. That's a good question

Last edited Sun Apr 10, 2016, 03:18 PM - Edit history (1)

but I suppose someone could make an argument either way--that Comey had a track record of not holding Clinton accountable, so maybe that insulated Clinton. I don't believe that, but it is another side to this.

Obama has publicly stated that he did not know about Clinton's private email server. He found out about it when it became public information. I fail to understand how an acting SOS could have a private, insecure email server during her tenure as a cabinet-level government official--and also two years after she left her position. Those emails were just sitting there on that server. What about the NSA...shouldn't they have known?

What's also interesting (and ironic) is this Executive order: Executive Order 13526 and 18 U.S.C Sec. 793(f) of the federal code make it unlawful to send or store classified information on personal email.

That executive order was issued by President Obama on Dec 29, 2009.

[mythology]

13. The president never endorses in the presidential primary

So please stop inventing silly conspiracy theories.

[onehandle]

14. He will in May, after Bernie concedes or becomes unviable via MATH. nt

[Tarc]

15. I believe it is called "respecting the process"

[Ferd Berfel]

16. MAybe he knows something about the FBI investigation

or this Panama thing?

[DanTex]

20. I don't think he wants to be perceived as taking sides before its over.

[Faux pas]

22. All good points

kinda makes you go ummm? Huh?

[oldandhappy]

24. The president has supported clinton in many ways.

I wonder what hold she has on him.

[ViseGrip]

26. Presidents usually don't step out in prez primaries, and Obama has stepped on the line...

I'll just leave this here.

[scscholar]

27. Obama? How about Bill?

I know that saved him when he blocked access to voting since he hasn't officially endorsed any candidate yet, but what is he waiting for?

[Hiraeth]

28. Is there historical precedent for endorsing in the primaires? Has any other President ever?

[Renew Deal]

29. The literal crying and whining we would hear if he did that would be off the charts

[SheilaT]

32. Just in case you all haven't noticed,

neither candidate yet has the pledged delegates to get the nomination.

And Obama is no fool. Bernie stands a far better chance of winning the nomination (and I hope he will) than the Hillarybots understand. If he were to endorse her, then Bernie becomes the nominee, he's in an extremely awkward situation.

To put it a slightly different way, Obama probably knows something we don't. Whether that has to do with Hillary's email cluster fuck, or that he simply isn't that crazy about her as President, especially after her time as Secretary of State, or if he's seeing some sort of polling that shows Hillary is simply going to go down in flames by June 7. No way of knowing at this point. And since the nomination is still contested at this point, he's doing the right thing by not endorsing.

[zappaman]

36. Awwwww

[Blue_Adept]

37. You're certainly not a newbie to how politics works

Yet you act like it with posts like this. Any particular reason why?

[democrattotheend]

40. There are other explanations you are forgetting

He might just be holding back because sitting presidents traditionally do not endorse when a primary is still contested (Bill Clinton was the exception to that).

Also, the president may be holding off because he knows that a lot of people, especially grassroots activists, who supported him in 2008 now support Bernie. Why endanger his legacy by pissing off some of his strongest supporters?