The White House is technically required to stump for the 2016 Democratic Presidential candidates this evening, laying out all of their successes in an effort to convince Americans that President Obama’s tenure is in no way reflective of how other Democrats would choose to serve. There was that one time in 2009 he passed a healthcare law, but in the last 7 months or so, it’s been all non-binding nuclear weapons agreements with backwater dictatorships, Executive Orders the Supreme Court will probably overturn, and that one time he opened up trade to Cuba because Beyonce wanted to go there on vacation. It’s gonna be a tough sell.
Unhelpfully, this morning, the “White House,” in the form of Joe Biden, also made it clear they have no intention on helping the frontrunner, Hillary Clinton. Talking about income inequality and the survival of the middle class, Joe made sure to tell the crowd of reporters that he thought Bernie Sanders, not Hillary Clinton, was in a better position to talk honestly about what it’s like being merely a hundred-thousand-aire.
Vice President Joe Biden offered effusive praise for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders Monday, lauding Hillary Clinton’s chief rival for doing a “heck of a job” on the campaign trail and praising Sanders for offering an authentic voice on income inequality.
And while Biden said Democrats had a slate of “great candidates” running for president, he suggested Clinton was a newcomer to issues like the growing gap between rich and poor.
“Bernie is speaking to a yearning that is deep and real. And he has credibility on it,” Biden said during an interview with CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger.
“It’s relatively new for Hillary to talk about that,” Biden continued, acknowledging that Clinton has “come forward with some really thoughtful approaches to deal with the issue” of income inequality.
“Hillary’s focus has been other things up to now, and that’s been Bernie’s — no one questions Bernie’s authenticity on those issues,” he said.”
This is both good and bad news for Hillary. It’s good news because the White House is unpopular, 7 of 10 people think the country is headed in the wrong direction according to a recent Wall Street Journal poll, and Hillary is working hard to differentiate herself on key issues from the current President. It’s bad because Bernie Sanders just pulled into a statistical dead heat with Clinton in Iowa where voters seem unfazed by Bernie’s socialist label. New Hampshire is almost on lock for him, though the Southern states coming up next and the midwestern Super Tuesday states are less convinced.
The best Hillary can muster this week in response to Biden’s full-throated support of Bernie Sanders is a stump appearance by Lena Dunham.
