If you haven’t gotten your tickets already, you might want to step up your game. You won’t want to miss out on October’s hottest tour: The Hillary Clinton/Barack Obama Keep America Stuck Revue. Yes, our fearless leader is heading out on the road and leaving his annoying responsibilities behind. All that matters now (and all that ever mattered) is the Obama Legacy, and our president is going to do everything he can to make sure it doesn’t get thrown in the garbage next January.
It’s not clear how often the two Democrats will appear together, but The New York Times reports that Obama is so concerned about President Trump undoing his work that he’s “largely cleared his calendar in October.” Barring the unforeseen, they report, the White House “expects Mr. Obama to be on the campaign trail almost daily leading up to Election Day.”
Hillary is eager to have the president on her side, especially at a time when his approval numbers are this high. But if she isn’t careful, she risks alienating the very Republicans she hopes will flock to her instead of Trump. There may be a significant pool of Trump-averse Republican voters out there, but they are hardly going to be motivated by a third Obama term, no matter what the alternative might be.
More broadly, this alliance makes it clearer than ever that a vote for Hillary is a vote for the status quo. Trump (and to some extent, Bernie Sanders) has shown that there is a vigorous appetite for change in this country, and there’s no one that screams “same old, same old” like Hillary Clinton. Sure, she’s eager to substitute Obama’s charisma for her own shrill speeches, but that charisma comes at a price.
But Obama couldn’t care less about what Hillary Clinton might want or need. A third term is exactly what he’s looking for; he’s even sticking around D.C. to keep an eye on things after his term is finished. He knows that Donald Trump would quickly dismantle his legacy on healthcare, illegal immigration, environmental regulations, and foreign policy. That would be a wonderful thing for the U.S., but it would leave Obama’s spot in the history books a lot smaller. For an egomaniac like the president, that just won’t do.
