There's a few articles in the media today shouting that the "return" of president Obama has finally broken the monopoly that President Trump has held in the news. It is true that Obama's speeches got a lot of coverage even if not that many people turned out to see him in person. The question, though, is whether or not Obama's appearances are a good thing for the Democrats. In other words is Obama better for the Dems than Nobama?
My view is that putting Obama out there on the campaign trail is not helpful for the Democrats. In the past, Obama was never able to help candidates other than himself. In 2010, he campaigned constantly, but the Democrats got creamed. In 2014, Obama again campaigned during the whole fall campaign, and the Democrats were crushed. This year, Obama is back on the campaign trail. That means that he's out there, once again reminding the voters why they switched from Democrat to Republican in 2016. Sure, Hillary Clinton was a terrible candidate with all sorts of negative baggage, but ultimately the election of Trump was just as much a repudiation of Obama and his policies as it was a repudiation of Clinton. Bringing Obama back to talk about how he should get credit for Trump's sizzling economy when all Obama could manage was stagnation makes the comparison easy to voters. It's not something the Dems should be emphasizing. If the election is about policy, Trump and the GOP will win easily.
My view is that putting Obama out there on the campaign trail is not helpful for the Democrats. In the past, Obama was never able to help candidates other than himself. In 2010, he campaigned constantly, but the Democrats got creamed. In 2014, Obama again campaigned during the whole fall campaign, and the Democrats were crushed. This year, Obama is back on the campaign trail. That means that he's out there, once again reminding the voters why they switched from Democrat to Republican in 2016. Sure, Hillary Clinton was a terrible candidate with all sorts of negative baggage, but ultimately the election of Trump was just as much a repudiation of Obama and his policies as it was a repudiation of Clinton. Bringing Obama back to talk about how he should get credit for Trump's sizzling economy when all Obama could manage was stagnation makes the comparison easy to voters. It's not something the Dems should be emphasizing. If the election is about policy, Trump and the GOP will win easily.
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