A.B. Stoddard: Who will Obama back?

As Democrats remain consumed by the consequences of Hillary Clinton’s campaign free fall and the question of Vice President Biden entering the race to salvage the party’s chances in 2016, so must President Obama.

As the leader of the free world tends to his day job, pressure is building behind closed doors among Democrats fearful a Clinton nomination could cost them the White House and hand the Supreme Court to conservatives for decades to come. Party stalwarts are looking for an alternative to Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the self-declared socialist, and a Biden campaign is not viable without Obama’s support. It’s now Obama’s problem too.

{mosads}Clinton’s polling is moving in one direction: the trajectory is bad, and the speed of decline even worse. Sanders is now ahead of the former secretary of State in Iowa and New Hampshire; the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll shows she has lost the support of white women by 29 points in just two months; and the latest New York Times/CBS News poll shows Clinton’s lead nationally has been cut in half since August.

And as the voters feel, so do the people who helped Clinton build a perch for her presidential run — the email saga is not nothing to Team Obama. Although it is complicit in protecting her, talk about town reveals the White House is angered by Clinton’s conduct, as well as her comments and characterizations of the scandal that have turned out to be false. 

Her use of a private email server is unprecedented, and the circulation of classified information violated government policy. But it is Clinton’s deletion of emails later revealed to be government business that stinks at best — at worst, it could make her guilty of anticipatory obstruction of justice. Beyond that, if it is revealed her “personal” deleted emails involved a co-mingling of her State Department work with Clinton Foundation activity, its donors and those who hired either her or husband Bill Clinton for speeches, her campaign is over.

Signs have emerged that Biden is indeed taking steps to enter the presidential race, should he ultimately choose to do so. 

While he continues to state that his staggering grief from the loss of his son Beau just months ago likely precludes a run, Biden’s backers have worked aggressively to show the pieces are in place just in case it becomes feasible. The vice president’s meetings with progressive brass, including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and a key Obama bundler now supporting Clinton, in addition to numerous press leaks and high-profile appearances, are designed to telegraph the possibility.

Obama anointed Clinton as his would-be successor in a joint interview with her on “60 Minutes” in early 2013 that jolted Bidenworld. After what he did to help Obama in his reelection campaign, Bill Clinton received the first thank-you call the president made on election night. It was clear that Obama had given Hillary Clinton his implicit, if not explicit, support for her second presidential campaign. ABC News reported in April, weeks after her use of a private server at State was revealed, that Obama said, “If she’s her wonderful self, I’m sure she is going to do great.”

Now that Clinton’s campaign isn’t wonderful or great, and the party risks nominating someone weakened and potentially beatable, Obama may have to break a deal and not only back a Biden run but encourage and aid it as well. Until and unless he does, the Clintons will be able to ground a potential Biden campaign. 

Obama knows if Clinton loses, he loses. In the days and weeks to come, he may have to make one of the most momentous decisions of his presidency.

Stoddard is an associate editor of The Hill.