President Obama’s stepped-up campaign schedule shows he knows that a Hillary Clinton victory Nov. 8 is a win for him too, and probably his last, as Republican plans for a bare-bones lame-duck session leave Obama little hope of securing anymore legislative victories.
He is stumping for his former secretary of state harder than any incumbent has for a would-be successor in 100 years. He is on the road at least one day a week, and often more like two or three, whipping up the party faithful for his one-time rival. And his wife, Michelle, is making weekly appearances for Clinton and her running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.
Thursday Obama was in Miami for Clinton, and Sunday he heads to Las Vegas to boost her.
If the last few months are any sign, Obama may not have any reason to expect any more legislative accomplishments. Congress gave him fast-track authority, but Republicans and Democrats alike are cool to the Trans-Pacific Partnership he negotiated.
Senate Republicans are also not fans of his Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, and have poured cold water on his plan to overhaul the criminal justice system.
Facing that bleak outlook, Obama is using his high approval rating — crowds regularly chant “four more years” when he takes the stage—to convince Americans to do him one more favor by electing Clinton.
“You want to give me a good send-off? You want to give Michelle a good send-off? Join us,” Obama implored Floridians at a Clinton rally Thursday. He regularly argues that the progress he has made will be lost if Donald Trump wins.
But while Obama still has the nation’s attention, he still spins his legacy almost as much as he promotes Clinton.
“And I tell you what, eight years later, we can look back and we can say we fought our way back from a recession; our businesses have turned job losses into 15 million new jobs,” Obama said in Miami. “Incomes are rising; poverty is falling. By every measure, our country is stronger and more prosperous than when I came into office.”
Obama is also taking advantage of Trump’s recent stumbles. He was already saying Republicans have nothing but “bad” ideas in 2015, but after a tape surfaced showing Trump making lewd comments about women, he’s been mocking Republicans for waiting for it to get that bad before abandoning Trump.
“Apparently, a tape where a presidential candidate brags about actions that… qualify as sexual assault — apparently that was the deal-breaker for them,” Obama said about the prominent Republicans who have abandoned Trump. “Or at least, his poll numbers dropping after the tape came out was the deal-breaker for them.”
