Washington, August 25: President Barack Obama is caught between the White House aspirations of two of his closest advisers: vice president Joe Biden and former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton.
For months, White House officials expected Clinton to be the Democratic nominee in the 2016 election. Some of Obama’s top political advisers moved to New York to run her campaign and Obama appeared to give his tacit approval, saying she would be an “excellent President.” But that bet on Clinton suddenly looks less certain. With Biden weighing his own Presidential run more seriously amid signs of weakness in Clinton’s campaign, the White House faces the prospect of a family feud over who will become heir to Obama’s legacy.
“Certainly he’s got something at stake here,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday of Obama’s interest in the 2016 election. Biden’s recent overtures to donors and Democratic officials have led to palpable awkwardness in the West Wing as aides, many with close ties to Clinton, the vice president or both try to maintain impartiality. In picking between Biden and Clinton, Obama would be making a choice between two of the most influential members of his administration. Obama and Clinton long ago turned their political rivalry from the 2008 primary into an alliance.
Meanwhile, Obama and Biden appear to have developed a genuine friendship during their six-and-a-half years in the White House. When Biden’s son, Beau, died of brain cancer earlier this year, Obama delivered a moving eulogy in which he referred to the vice president as a “brother.”
The White House Monday acknowledged that vice president Joe Biden is still weighing a possible run for the top job, amid controversy surrounding Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. Biden, President Obama’s deputy for nearly seven years, has previously said he would make a decision on entering the 2016 race by the end of the summer. AP
