According to senior aides, we could see Barack Obama on the campaign trail very, very soon.
President Obama, after months of sitting on the sidelines of the rancorous contest to succeed him, is now ready to aggressively campaign for Hillary Clinton, starting with a formal endorsement of her candidacy as early as this week.
The Clinton campaign, too, is eager to have the sitting president on the stump. But there still seems to be a bit of internal discussion as to whether we'll be seeing Inspirational Obama:
“There’s no one better to lay out the two paths voters will face in the fall elections,” [Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri] said, “and he is particularly strong at making the economic argument for her.”
Or No-More-F—ks-To-Give Obama:
Mr. Obama is particularly enthusiastic, aides said, about taking on Mr. Trump. The Republican candidate has personally offended the president with his conduct on the campaign trail — Mr. Trump referred to a black supporter on Friday in one of his crowds as “my African-American” — and as the most visible champion of the “birther” conspiracy theories that falsely hold that Mr. Obama was born in Kenya rather than Hawaii.
Oh, I want that one. Won't that be fun.
Obama has at times been visibly impatient to get in the race, but has been holding off until the Democratic primary was decided. If the California and New Jersey primaries tomorrow further cement Clinton's lead, however, it looks like Obama has decided it's time to stop waiting and jump in. The opportunity to campaign not just against a Republican Party who has treated him with such scorn throughout his administration but against the open racism and ignorance of Donald Trump personally is too good to keep passing up.