In his last speech to a party convention as president, Barack Obama announced he was “filled with faith” in “a generous, big-hearted, hopeful country,” and optimistic about America’s future. He then went on to list a litany of his accomplishments — Obamacare and the killing of Osama bin Laden.
“Yes, we’ve still got more work to do,” Obama said. “We’re not done perfecting our union.” He contrasted his vision with Donald Trump’s pessimism. He then concluded, amid occasional shouts from a friendly crowd of “four more years!” that Hillary Clinton, who was “in the room” with him as he made key decisions, is just the person to finish the job.
But does Clinton really want to run on an Obama record of peace and prosperity? That record, after all, is something that most people, even many of those who like and sympathize with Obama, view as something imaginary?
Obama is generally liked, and his approval ratings are positive. But it’s hard to find much enthusiasm for his achievements (Obamacare is failing, for example, and remains unpopular), or any sign of faith among the masses that America is on the right track.
The success of “doom and gloom” candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in this year’s primaries was no accident, for about 70 percent of Americans view the country as being on the wrong track. In fact, the polling averages suggest that the public has viewed the nation as being on the wrong track every single day of Obama’s presidency so far, and there is no sign of that changing. Just as he never found a way in eight years to bring back strong economic growth, Obama never found a way to cure the sour national mood.
So in this context, does Clinton want to run as the candidate of continuity, of “four more years” of Obama? Or does she want to run as the “change-maker” that her husband described Tuesday night?
At several points in this campaign, the Clintons have spoken disparagingly of the Obama years, offering unfavorable comparisons to the Clinton era. Bill Clinton has frequently lodged little complaints, such as when he said that “unlike when I became president, a lot of things are coming apart around the world now.” He also promised at one point that Hillary’s presidency will “put the awful legacy of the last eight years behind us,” a phrase which, in context, cannot be anything but a shot at Obama.
And why not take such a shot, when it helps establish your credibility amid widespread voter unhappiness with the nation’s condition?
That would all seem to support Bill’s line about his wife being a change agent who can fix a broken country. But judging from Democrats’ rhetoric about the grave risks of a Trump presidency — it has been their strongest selling point during this convention — it’s much more likely that she will be running for another four years of the the Obama presidency.
A new Pew poll shows, unsurprisingly, that only 20 percent of people and only 50 percent of Clinton’s own supporters, believe Clinton will bring positive change to Washington. A majority, and half of her supporters, view her as a continuation of Obama. At best, she represents continuity, and at worst the corrupt, speech-giving, money-grubbing status quo which Bernie Sanders supporters decry. Even her Secret Service codename is “Evergreen.”
A vote for Clinton, in Obama’s view, is a vote to continue his policies. Try as she might, Clinton has little hope on Thursday of giving anyone a better reason than that for electing her.
