Outgoing D.C. Mayor Adrian “Fenty was one of the first mayors to endorse Obama’s presidential campaign and campaigned in several states on Obama’s behalf“, having announced his support for the then-long shot candidate on July 17, 2007. Yet, when that reforming Democrat asked the president to return the favor last month as he faced an uphill battle in their party’s primary, the chief executive was silent.
And this week, on a trip to the Ocean State to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the president refused to endorse his party’s gubernatorial nominee Frank Caprio. “White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reiterated Tuesday that Obama would not be taking a side in the race, citing the president’s ‘relationship and friendship with former Senator [Chafee].’” Chafee, a one-time Republican, endorsed Obama in 2008.
Caprio later told the president to “shove it.”
So, the White House shows deference to one man who backed him (which was the best he could do because he couldn’t endorse an independent running against a Democrat), yet spurns another. Fenty supported Obama in a contested Democratic contest. You’d think Obama would back him when he faced a partisan challenger.
Now, Bill Clinton is heading up to the smallest state to campaign for Caprio in a move that Politico’s Jonathan Allen and Maggie Haberman contend, provides “a stark contrast to President Barack Obama’s snub of Caprio earlier this week“.
Wonder if someone else is telling the president to “shove it.”
RELATED: Clinton on the stump: Does he really want Obama and Dems to win? Read the whole thing.
It’s the Chicago way, writ on a national scale. Does anyone else think Clinton is campaigning for someone else? Maybe HC?
I keep wondering if Bill’s heart is in the race or is he just doing the whistle-stop bus touring hop-scotching jaunts because it helps him numb the pain of being an ex-President, outside the limelight? He looks tired, haggard, worn and defeated… just like Democrats across the US.
Prediction: look for him to spin the E Day 10 results into some message for Obama to change directions, heed the voice of the people and reset his Administration. And watch Obama ignore him.