Why did Mr. Obama support Mrs. Hillary Clinton to be President of the United States?

Observers say that Mr. Obama's praise for his former Secretary of State could help Mrs. Hillary score more points with the public.

The race for the US presidential election is heating up day by day with close votes from promising candidates. One of the Democratic candidates, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, has been highly praised by the incumbent President Barack Obama in the press and media.

Hillary Clinton and incumbent US President Barack Obama. (photo: KT).

Interestingly, Hillary was Obama’s “rival” in the 2008 race to become the Democratic Party’s candidate for the US presidency. The race failed, Hillary withdrew and turned to support Obama to become President. In response, after becoming President, Obama appointed her as US Secretary of State.

Hillary is "evil" smart

In a recent interview with Politico magazine, Mr. Obama admitted that there were many unfair things for Mrs. Hillary in the 2008 race: the press was on his side, while Mrs. Hillary always had to try harder than other candidates to meet high expectations from the public, including having perfect hair when appearing.

“She had to wake up earlier than me because she needed to get her hair done perfectly,” Obama jokingly replied.

“The truth is that in the 2007-2008 race, sometimes my supporters and my team got a little bit angry at the tough but legitimate questions that Hillary asked. And there were times when I thought the media was a little unfair to her,” Mr. Obama continued.

In fact, Hillary had a harder time running for president than men. “She had to do everything I did, but in high heels,” Obama said.

In fact, Mrs. Hillary encountered more difficulties than men when running for President. (photo: CNN).

Commenting on the two Democratic presidential candidates, Mr. Obama said that candidate Bernie came to the race with a fairly relaxed mindset, while Mrs. Hillary, "I think she has many "privileges" and "burdens" that come with it."

“The public is always only interested in shining individuals that they have never known before, which is a disadvantage for her,” Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Obama commented that Hillary’s strengths and privileges could become her disadvantage. Her rich experience, “evil” intelligence, and understanding of policies and political issues could make her more cautious, and thus the election campaign could become “boring prose” instead of “soaring poetry.”

However, Mrs. Hillary's ability to govern is undeniable. Mr. Obama said: "She (Hillary) can start working here (the White House) from day one with more experience than anyone else who has never been President."

From rivals to long-time friends

Although she failed in the fierce competition with Mr. Obama to win the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2008, Mrs. Clinton later became one of the effective assistants to the 44th US President during his first term, before resigning in 2013.

When Hillary left the position of US Secretary of State, there were many rumors that the relationship between her and Mr. Obama had many cracks. However, up to now, when answering the press, Mr. Obama always gave her compliments. Moreover, the support team for Hillary's current election campaign is also Mr. Obama's talented assistants.

Regarding Mr. Obama's support for Mrs. Hillary, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said, "We can only say that it is his right to publicly support anyone."

A sitting president typically doesn’t explicitly state which side he’s on in an election, but he can indirectly send signals about a favorite candidate, said Matt Dickinson, a political science professor at Middlebury College.

“In fact, I think Mr. Obama made it clear in his interview with Polotico that he preferred Hillary Clinton,” Professor Dickinson said.

Previously, when US Vice President Joe Biden also ran for election, Mr. Obama refused when asked by reporters whether he wanted Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Biden to succeed.

“I like both of them. It's worth a try,” Obama said.

From left to right: US President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Mrs. Hillary Clinton. (photo: Flickr).

Observers said that choosing between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Biden would be an “impossible” task for President Obama, as he called both of them “friends”. Then Mr. Biden withdrew, giving way to other candidates, and everything became easier for the White House owner.

Observers believe that Mr. Obama's attitude toward his former Secretary of State could help Mrs. Hillary score more points in public opinion, while increasing her chances of winning the Democratic Party's only "ticket" to the White House race.

With just a week to go until the Democratic caucuses in Iowa, Hillary Clinton has been trying to tie her campaign closer to the incumbent president and draw more support from Obama supporters.

She argues that while candidate Bernie Sanders pursues laudable goals, some of them are unattainable and the Vermont senator lacks the experience to handle a range of issues.

Will America have its first female President?

Many people believe that the race in Iowa on February 1 will be similar to the confrontation between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton in 2018 (when Mrs. Clinton lost). However, President Obama disagrees. He said: “That is not true.”

The US President also pointed out that Bernie Sanders' campaign needs to change, moving towards the candidate's ability to handle many issues instead of focusing on just one issue.

The daily work of a President is very busy with many events happening at the same time. For example, Mr. Obama gave an example: “A little over a week ago, I was busy drafting the State of the Union address, and a White House staffer came in and reported that some sailors had strayed into Iranian waters. That was a typical day for the President.”

Although cautious about candidate Bernie Sanders, Mr. Obama used "winged" words for Mrs. Hillary. Not only Mr. Obama, many Americans also believe that Mrs. Hillary will do well in her role as President.

Many Americans also believe that Mrs. Hillary will do a good job as President. (photo: AP).

Bloomberg also listed a series of advantages that Mrs. Hillary has over other competitors in the race to the US presidency.

First of all, Mrs. Hillary showed the prospect of defeating her Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders, especially after she received a "signal" of support from the US President.

Hillary also received great support from labor unions; from African-American voters, Asian-American voters and young voters.

In addition, Hillary's husband, former President Bill Clinton, is ready to support his wife's campaign with his experience that helped him win 8 years ago.

Moreover, Hillary's campaign team has sought abundant financial resources from wealthy Wall Street businessmen, creating conditions for the election campaign to run much more smoothly and favorably.

Finally, Bloomberg asserts, Republicans are mistaken in thinking they can bring down Hillary with the scandals surrounding her private email or the Benghazi attack when she was Secretary of State. However, these issues do not seriously affect the country’s economy or people’s lives.

After the first African-American entered the White House, making history in the US Presidential elections, who knows, maybe the American people will choose a woman to sit in the seat of supreme power in the next term?

According to VOV