In spite of attempts to chip away at American confidence in Obama, he maintains about the same level of approval he had at this point in 2012, the year he won reelection. Though he is prohibited from seeking a third term, it makes it easier for the Democratic hopefuls looking to succeed him and for once, those hopefuls aren't allowing themselves to be baited into running away from the Democratic incumbent. Sanders, Clinton, and O'Malley have boasted ample acreage of common ground between them and Obama. Also notable is Obama's confidence in weighing in on the candidates as he did in a Politico interview published earlier this week. The poli-terati fell over itself to report that the prez "put his thumb on the scale" for Hillary in that sit down. Actually, Obama spoke favorably of both candidates, but spent a little more time praising Clinton. And then the plot thickened.
Following the interview, Bernie Sanders had a highly publicized meeting with Barack Obama in the White House. While the genesis of the get-together was a mystery, one can infer that Sanders wanted to control any perceived advantage Clinton may have earned by elbowing into any proximity to Obama. Sanders emerged from the meeting giving a vague menu of the discussion and giving assurances that Obama was maintaining an even hand between the candidates. If Obama was any kind of damaged goods, this would not be happening. By contrast, Bush was interviewed by Politico in May of 2008 during the full swing of that year's campaign and the only candidate mentioned by name (and it was by the interviewer) was Hillary Clinton. Also, Bush's March 2008 endorsement of McCain was more of an exercise in bearing ritual discomfort than it was an anointing for the eventual Republican nominee. By the time the Republicans had their convention, Bush was so unpopular, he made his appearance by video link.
So we have the candidates speaking highly of the president during the debates. We have the president speaking highly of both candidates and spending more time to lavish praise on the front-runner. We have the second-runner meeting with the president days later with ample publicity. This is historic. When have Democratic candidates been so eager to suck up to the outgoing Democratic president? It hasn't happened in my lifetime. There is, if you will, Oba-momentum (sorry) which, even if it isn't "felt" or quantified by the average middle-of-the-road American on a day-to-day basis, it will when the race heats up.
I avoid making predictions for being made a fool by the myriad of unforeseeable variables. Then there are some rare predictions that I deem safe. One of those safe predictions is that at the upcoming Democratic convention, there will be a sitting Democratic president and a former Democratic president who will be treated to exceptional adoration. It had been the Republican goal to have gnawed away at Obama's standing by the end of his presidency. They have succeeded to an extent. The contrarian drone of FOX News does make its way out of the bubble creating a real world shift. FOX has also been complicit in fortifying Congress with Republicans whose positions would be threatened if they cooperated with Obama (and then blame Obama for not cooperating with them). Yet here we are. There are Democratic fingerprints all over his coattails which is quite extraordinary.
