WASHINGTON – They've been bitter rivals, allies and colleagues.
When they take the stage at their first joint
campaign appearance on Tuesday, President Barack Obama and
Hillary Clinton will show off a new phase in their storied relationship:
co-dependents.
Clinton's chances of winning the White House hinge on
rallying Obama's coalition to her cause. Obama's legacy depends on her
success. Eight years after they spent millions tearing each other down
in pursuit of the White House, they will now spend countless words and
four months selling each other to the public.
The foe-to-friend story will be at the center of the
Obama-Clinton show in Charlotte, North Carolina, aides to both say. In
his remarks, the president will act as a character witness for his
former secretary of state, who is struggling to convince voters of her
trustworthiness and honesty. There is no better politician to testify on
her behalf, many Democrats believe, than the man who once counted
himself among the Clinton skeptics but came around to be one of her
biggest boosters.
"I think that he can be very helpful, particularly
with Democratic voters and some independent voters who have doubts,"
said David Axelrod, the chief architect of Obama's 2008 race for the
Democratic nomination against Clinton. "He can do that by sharing his
own experience. They were rivals, they had their differences; that gives
him some additional standing."
The Clinton campaign also is hoping Obama acts as a
reminder of another, more popular chapter in Clinton's career. For four
years, Obama trusted her to circle the globe representing his foreign
policy to the world. She sat at his side in the Situation Room. She was
the good soldier, putting aside her political ego to join the
administration of the man who defeated her. During her tenure at the
State Department she was viewed favorably by most Americans.
The White House confirmed Monday
that Clinton and Obama will travel to the event together on Air Force
One. The last time they traveled together was 2012 when they visited
newly democratic Myanmar, a particular issue of interest to Clinton.
While Obama and Clinton are only expected to be in Charlotte for a few
hours, their schedules leave room for a possible unannounced stop around
town that could showcase their rapport.
"As someone who was a former rival and came to put a
lot of faith in her, we believe the president's support for her is
particularly meaningful to voters," said Clinton campaign adviser
Jennifer Palmieri.
Clinton's Republican presidential rival objected to
the travel plan. "Why is President Obama allowed to use Air Force One on
the campaign trail with Crooked Hillary?" Donald Trump tweeted. "Who
pays?"
Presidents make all their airplane flights on Air
Force One, no matter the purpose of the trip. Political committees are
required to contribute to the cost of a president's campaign-related
travel, though a portion of such costs is borne by taxpayers, too.
"As in other Administrations, we follow all rules and
regulations to ensure that the DNC or other relevant political
committee pays what is required for the President to travel to political
events," the White House said in a statement.
Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said: "As is the standard practice, the campaign will cover its portion of the costs."
Obama makes his first campaign appearance during a
wave of popularity unlike anything he's experienced since his first
term. Clinton aides say they're confident they could deploy him in any
battleground state, though they believe he'll be particularly effective
rallying young people, as well as black and Hispanic voters, and will be
instrumental in voter registration efforts.
Obama won't just fire up these voters' Clinton kudos,
of course. In a series of remarks in recent weeks, the president has
proven himself to be one of the Democrats' most effective critics of
Trump. From his perch at the White House and on the world
stage, Obama has regularly found ways to blast Trump's message and mock
his style. The mix of high-minded concern and sharp-elbowed sarcasm is
widely viewed as an effective, tweetable model for other Democrats.
Still Obama won't spend the next four months as the
"Trump-troller in chief," as one official put it. Obama plans to take a
largely positive message on the road as his campaigning picks up later
this summer. That's in part because he's campaigning for the
continuation of his agenda — as well as Clinton's. On health care,
immigration, financial reform and the environment, Clinton is largely
promising a continuation or acceleration of Obama's policies.
Obama and Clinton originally planned to make their
first campaign appearance together in Wisconsin, a Democratic-leaning
state where Clinton struggled in her primary fight with Bernie Sanders.
Campaign aides viewed the rally as a way to forge Democratic unity after
the bruising primary and consolidate the party's voters in a
state Clinton needs to carry in November.
But the June 15 rally was postponed due to the mass
shooting at an Orlando nightclub. By the time the campaign and White
House got around to rescheduling, Clinton aides said the landscape had
shifted — they are now far less worried about bringing along Bernie
Sanders voters and more interested in using the president to rallying
voters in one of the most divided general election battlegrounds.
Obama narrowly won North Carolina in the 2008
presidential election, becoming the first Democrat to win the state
since 1976. His campaign aggressively registered more young people and
black voters, and he drew support from moderates in the booming suburbs
of Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham.
The president was eager to cement Democrats' strength
in North Carolina during his re-election campaign, even holding his
convention in Charlotte. But he was dogged by a sluggish economy and
disappointment among some swing voters, and lost to Republican Mitt
Romney by 2 percentage points.