Will Clinton use Obama in the general election?

[Mehmentum]

The last time a candidate campaigned with the sitting president was George H.W. Bush and Reagan.  What do you think, will Obama be popular enough that he'll be able to help Clinton with her campaign?

[TDAS04]

It would be stupid of her not to. 

[Xing]

She's not going to win by ignoring him or pretending that she disagrees with his policies, so she should.

[emcee0]

It would be political suicide not to.

[pbrower2a]

Her campaign (or that of any other Democrat) will depend upon either keeping up the good work -- or going further.

[Famous Mortimer]

He's not super popular but then again, neither is she. It won't help or hurt and it wold look weird if she didn't. So yes.

[Blair]

Obama is on par with Bill Clinton campaigning wise-I'd even argue that his campaigning skills are up there with Reagan or JFK. She'll need him to get the coalition to turn out

[Vega]

Ironically, I think he'll be relied on as much as Gore relied on Clinton in 2000. Around, but not too much of a presence.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

He's a top 10, maybe even top 5 President. It would be idiotic not to.

[The Dowager Mod]

Hillary is too smart to make the same mistake Gore did when he kept Bill at arms length.

[Suburbia]

She will have to.  The Obama coalition will have to turn out or else she may lose in states like Ohio, Minnesota, Virginia.

[dudeabides]

The Obama record:
- Obamacare
- Card Check
- The stimulus
- Cash for clunkers scheme
- Worst economic recovery since the Great Depression
- Increased corporate welfare
- $8 trillion added to the national debt
- $80 billion more per year in economic regulations
- Lowest labor participation rate in over 35 years
- GDP growth averaging less than 2%
- Median incomes falling, inequality rising
- 4.1 million Americans kicked off their health care
- Medicare cut for seniors
- Wages barely keeping pace with inflation
- Record poverty
- Record food stamp use
- Gutted bi-partisan welfare reform
- The Iran deal that appeases Iran
- Russian reset failure
- START II Treaty which appeased Russia and abandoned Poland
- Worst relationship with Israel in history
- IRS Scandal
- VA Scandal
- Fast & Furious Scandal
- Pay to play
- Benghazi
- Illegal executive orders
- Dodd-Frank has hurt community banks and small business
- Reduced business start-up rates
- Higher taxes on investments

I hope she uses him on the campaign trail.

[Podgy the Bear]

We are 15 months away from the election, but Obama today is far more popular than W was in 2007 (consistently running in the mid-high 40s in approval ratings; W was in the 30s and dropping to the 20s by mid 2008). 

And unlike Bush in 2007--where his own base was tiring of him, Obama continues to carry considerable popularity with his base.  Also--no Republican except for Jeb has any chance to pick any significant share of the Hispanic base (which in my mind makes him the only Republican that can beat Hillary).

There is no way she will not use Obama.  Perhaps not nationally but definitely in the current traditional swing states.  FYI, if Hillary wins Virginia, she can lose Florida, Ohio, Colorado, and Iowa and still have the 270 needed to win.

[President Johnson]

She will. His record is the best since LBJ (it's a tie with Bill Clinton in my opinion).

His record:
- Universal health care
- saved the economy, stimoulous
- saved GM
- ended "cold war" with Cuba
- Iran Deal
- got Bin Laden
- ended Iraq
- made America more respected in the world after the Bush years
- reduced unemployment massively
- robust econmic growth for several years
- lowered the deficit

And all this despite the hatred of many Republicans in congress. Of course he did make mistiakes and not everthing is fine, but he's done a lot.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Well, not to be facetious dudeabides, but it's far more likely that she will use Obama than Jeb will use Dubya.

And yes. A campaign that disendorses the sitting incumbent of the same party starts behind off the bat. obama's approvals (barring some sort of shock event) should be decent (single digits net approval probably), so she would be crazy to not run with Obama, especially where he plays well (student areas, Black communities. Might as well make the most of some "incumbency" advantage.

[dudeabides]

Well, not to be facetious dudeabides, but it's far more likely that she will use Obama than Jeb will use Dubya.

And yes. A campaign that disendorses the sitting incumbent of the same party starts behind off the bat. obama's approvals (barring some sort of shock event) should be decent (single digits net approval probably), so she would be crazy to not run with Obama, especially where he plays well (student areas, Black communities. Might as well make the most of some "incumbency" advantage.

I do agree with that. Jeb won't be using W, despite the fact W was a far better President than Obama.

[skoods]

Well, not to be facetious dudeabides, but it's far more likely that she will use Obama than Jeb will use Dubya.

And yes. A campaign that disendorses the sitting incumbent of the same party starts behind off the bat. obama's approvals (barring some sort of shock event) should be decent (single digits net approval probably), so she would be crazy to not run with Obama, especially where he plays well (student areas, Black communities. Might as well make the most of some "incumbency" advantage.

I do agree with that. Jeb won't be using W, despite the fact W was a far better President than Obama.

No. Obama is overrated but Bush was an unmitigated disaster who cost this country dearly.

[Oakvale]

Hillary is too smart to make the same mistake Gore did when he kept Bill at arms length.

I kind of agree with this post re: it being wise for Hillary to cast herself as Obama's third term (we all know he'd win again if he could run), but this is an old canard that doesn't hold up - Clinton in 2000 had the bizarre combination of high job approvals and being widely despised as a creep. Gore made the right decision in trying to disassociate himself.

[RR1997]

Well, not to be facetious dudeabides, but it's far more likely that she will use Obama than Jeb will use Dubya.

And yes. A campaign that disendorses the sitting incumbent of the same party starts behind off the bat. obama's approvals (barring some sort of shock event) should be decent (single digits net approval probably), so she would be crazy to not run with Obama, especially where he plays well (student areas, Black communities. Might as well make the most of some "incumbency" advantage.

I do agree with that. Jeb won't be using W, despite the fact W was a far better President than Obama.

I don't care what political party you affiliate with, if you truly believe that Bush was a better president than Obama, you're either a hack, troll, or severely uneducated.

[Higgs]

Well, not to be facetious dudeabides, but it's far more likely that she will use Obama than Jeb will use Dubya.

And yes. A campaign that disendorses the sitting incumbent of the same party starts behind off the bat. obama's approvals (barring some sort of shock event) should be decent (single digits net approval probably), so she would be crazy to not run with Obama, especially where he plays well (student areas, Black communities. Might as well make the most of some "incumbency" advantage.

I do agree with that. Jeb won't be using W, despite the fact W was a far better President than Obama.

I don't care what political party you affiliate with, if you truly believe that Bush was a better president than Obama, you're either a hack,troll,or severely uneducated.

Can we all just agree both Bush and Obama were abysmal presidents

[Likely Voter]

no offense to the OP, but how is this even a question. At a bare minimum he will be a huge factor in fundraising and outreach to African Americans. But he is still vastly popular with the party and elections are about getting out the base.  The only variable is how popular he is in general and if you extend him out to reach more middle of the road voters or not.

[dudeabides]

Well, not to be facetious dudeabides, but it's far more likely that she will use Obama than Jeb will use Dubya.

And yes. A campaign that disendorses the sitting incumbent of the same party starts behind off the bat. obama's approvals (barring some sort of shock event) should be decent (single digits net approval probably), so she would be crazy to not run with Obama, especially where he plays well (student areas, Black communities. Might as well make the most of some "incumbency" advantage.

I do agree with that. Jeb won't be using W, despite the fact W was a far better President than Obama.

I don't care what political party you affiliate with, if you truly believe that Bush was a better president than Obama, you're either a hack,troll,or severely uneducated.

First of all, why does your profile say "R-IL?"

Secondly, by most measurements, Bush was a far better President.

First, foreign policy. Be it this Iran deal that is appeasement, the Russian reset, Start II, Cuba, supporting the muslim brotherhood in Egypt, or distancing ourselves from Israel and other allies, President Obama has been weak and ineffective in foreign policy.

By contrast, you have President Bush's administration. They toppled brutal regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, crippled Iran's economy, got the Libyans to abandon their nuclear ambitions, and brought vaccines to South Africa.

Thanks to the policies of the Bush administration, our country is safer. Luckily, President Obama has continued some of Bush's homeland security policies. The result has been 60 plots against our country disrupted over the last 14 years. Additionally, illegal border crossings are down because between 2004 and 2010, via an executive order President Bush signed into law, we doubled border patrol agents.

You then have economic policy, where I believe it's safe to say both Presidents had issues, but far more so President Obama.

President Bush signed into law the largest tax relief in our country's history, it was tax relief that benefited all income taxpayers. This tax relief increased federal revenues by 44%. President Obama, by contrast, has increased taxes via Obamacare.

President Bush was the biggest regulator since Richard Nixon, until President Obama came to power. President Bush, in his first six years in office, presided over regulations costing business $30 billion per year, compared with $80 billion under President Obama.

President Bush increased the national debt by roughly $6 trillion in eight years, President Obama has increased it by over $8 trillion in less than seven years. Food stamp use doubled in the eight years of the Bush administration, it's doubled in less than seven years under President Obama.

In President Bush's second term, the labor participation rate fell from 65.8% to 65.7% in four years - between January 2009 and January 2013, it fell from 65.7% to 63.7%, and now it's at a 35 year low.

While median incomes have fallen under both Presidents, President Obama has presided over record poverty.

So, in reality, Jeb Bush would be silly to use his brother on the campaign trail. Jeb Bush was far more successful on the economy in Florida than George W. Bush was on the economy in the nation as a whole. Additionally, Hillary Clinton would be stupid to use Obama on the campaign trail.

[Blair]

Okay Dudeabides has gone insane, anyone with foreign policy knowledge knows that Afghanistan was a massive  up on so many levels for the Bush regime.

Plus-how is Obama weak when he's standing up to his own party over Iran+Cuba? Maybe he should follow Dick Cheney's advice and bomb Iran

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

Bush was an objective failure (the only redeeming aspect of his presidency was PEPFAR, and that does not balance out everything else). On the other hand, Obama is on track to become a top 5 President.

[Zioneer]

Obama is a solidly decent president (I'm not willing to call him one of the greatest), whereas Dubya is one of the worst. Plus near the end of his presidency, Obama is still fairly well-liked by the public and by his base. Bush was and is not. It'd be foolish to keep Obama out of the campaign, and even more foolish to drag Bush in.