Obama Secretly Tells Donors To Support Clinton: No Hope For Sanders?
In closed-door meetings Friday, President Obama reportedly instructed Democratic donors that the time has come to back Hillary Clinton. Obama’s support for Clinton could very well be the end of the Bernie Sanders campaign, particularly after Clinton’s decisive victories this past Tuesday. According to the New York Times, President Obama spoke privately with Democratic donors after a Democratic National Committee event, instructing them to put their financial and political support behind Hillary Clinton. Obama reportedly went so far as to assuage concerns that some of the high-powered Democratic donors had about Clinton’s “authenticity” as a candidate and her chances in a general election.
“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,” reads the New York Times piece, quoting three anonymous sources within the Democratic National Convention.
Obama has meeting with the rich donors for #HRC making his word to stay out of primaries worthless Obama sold out https://t.co/wkUptwIz5z
— #ToldYouSoDemocrats (@Rabidtwinkie77) March 17, 2016
The DNC event, a fundraiser for the Democratic party as a whole, was host to mobs of reporters, but it wasn’t until after they left that Obama let his guard down and spoke candidly with some of the most high-powered donors on the Democratic side. Obama reportedly praised Clinton’s ability as Secretary of State and suggested that she had already all but won the nomination.
“The comments were described by three people in the room for the event, all of whom were granted anonymity. The comments were later confirmed by a White House official,” claims the New York Times, reporting on the hush-hush meeting between Obama and Democratic donors.
Reportedly, Obama hedged when speaking directly about Bernie Sanders — he didn’t state that Sanders should or would leave the race, rather that Clinton has a better shot and that the delegate math is on her side. And the Clinton campaign has certainly surged ahead in the polls after their decisive wins on “Super Tuesday Part 3,” crushing the Sanders campaign in three key states. According to the Clinton campaign, this illustrates that Clinton is more electable than the still wildly popular Bernie Sanders.
Guys I think it's gonna be Clinton. https://t.co/I8rgYFGjMk
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) March 16, 2016
With several key states remaining in the Democratic Primary season, it is too early to call. Bernie Sanders has pulled out surprise wins in the past, so it would be unwise for Obama to speak too critically about Sanders. But according to the New York Times, Obama simply laid it out plainly: Clinton is the likely nominee, and she’s going to need all the help she can get to beat the other likely nominee, Donald Trump.
As CNN reported today, the Obama meeting with Democratic donors, which gently urged them to support Hillary Clinton, was just one of several closed-door meetings to occur in the halls of power this week. Republican donors and power brokers reportedly met behind closed doors in the U.S. Capitol today to discuss a plan to beat Donald Trump. CNN’s Gloria Borger characterized the meeting as one of “broad consensus” on the matter of Trump: he needs to be beaten, but the question is how.
During Obama’s private meeting with donors, he too reportedly expressed some urgency about the Trump problem, suggesting that the sooner the party rallies behind Clinton, the better. Clinton’s race has been a tough one against Bernie Sanders, who has broad support among the Democratic party’s liberal wing and among young voters. But Clinton, according to sources within the Obama meeting, is the best chance the Democratic party has to beat Trump.
The New York Times reports that Obama put aside concerns that Clinton isn’t as exciting a candidate as Sanders and that she’s not as “authentic.” Instead, Obama countered that both would make good presidents, but only Clinton would continue the work that the Obama administration has done so far.
[Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images]
