President Obama is learning that Hillary Clinton is effectively the co-leader of the Democratic Party, creating a new set of headaches for a commander in chief not yet ready to cede center stage to his possible successor.
An incumbent president typically has the benefit of a prolonged primary fight before having to play surrogate for a presidential candidate or defend differences in policy with the person tasked with defending their legacy.
But Clinton is a prohibitive favorite for the 2016 Democratic nomination. Her nearest Democratic competitor trails her by more than 40 percentage points, according to the most recent data from Public Policy Polling. As soon as she announced her presidential intentions, Obama, by default, was forced to reckon with his own diminished status.
Even as Obama announced he would remove Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, and as his White House admitted defeat in attempting to limit congressional oversight of a nuclear pact with Iran, it was Clinton who was using up much of the political oxygen on Tuesday.
Seemingly every Clinton matter now requires the president’s attention. White House press secretary Josh Earnest was even asked Tuesday if Obama had any thoughts on Clinton ordering a burrito bowl. (The president’s top spokesman didn’t weigh in on Clinton’s dietary habits.)
The degree to which Obama and Clinton are intertwined will become more evident at even the slightest indication that the former secretary of state is breaking from the White House on actual matters of substance.
Whether that’s combating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or tweaking Obamacare, both areas where Clinton has showcased some daylight with Obama, the attention on such a split could become all-consuming — and potentially disastrous for the White House.
Clinton, perhaps more than anyone, knows that the greatest albatross to her candidacy is being viewed as a politician stuck in the past, either an extension of Bill Clinton’s presidency or Obama’s.
Clinton will certainly find an opportune moment to highlight her distance from Obama, especially on matters of foreign policy she was once tasked with orchestrating on behalf of her former presidential rival.
Some Democrats suggest the president cannot avoid tensions with his former secretary of state.
“The White House will spend its time trying to create its legacy but will be hindered because the spotlight now belongs to Hillary Clinton,” said Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, who once worked for Clinton. “If Hillary Clinton says something critical, it carries way more weight than your average candidate. It’s something they’re going to have to figure out.”
The White House is operating with the belief that Clinton benefits from remaining closely aligned with the president. White House officials argue that Democrats lost in the 2010 and 2014 midterms because they failed to adequately defend the president’s policies and sapped Democratic enthusiasm in the process.
“The Obama coalition works,” a former senior White House official told the Washington Examiner. “[The Clinton campaign] should be doing everything possible to keep that together. An ‘Obama third term’ is actually in her best interest.”
However, such a message is the polar opposite of the approach Obama employed in 2008. He argued that he would bring change to Washington by ushering in a new era in how government operates.
Since then, faith in government has plummeted to an all-time low, polls have repeatedly found.
Much to Obama’s liking, Clinton has adopted the increasingly progressive message that has become a centerpiece of the president’s second term. She is framing her nascent presidential campaign around the ideas of combating income inequality and fighting Republican attempts to roll back government spending.
The challenge for Obama is defending his own accomplishments without undermining Clinton’s attempts to position herself as a problem solver, somebody who can work across the aisle in a way the president did not.
Even some Democratic loyalists question if that dynamic will pierce the no-drama Obama label the president’s inner circle so ardently trumpets.
“I have a hard time seeing the president being okay with a change message from any Democrat, especially Clinton,” said a veteran Democratic strategist with close ties to Obama. “She already signed up to play for his team. A certain amount of loyalty is expected with that. I still do worry that things could get ugly when it hits the fan.”
