NYT: Obama Privately Tells Donors That Time Is Coming to Unite Behind Hillary Clinton

[Rose Siding]

MARCH 17, 2016

In unusually candid remarks, President Obama privately told a group of Democratic donors last Friday that Senator Bernie Sanders is nearing the point where his campaign against Hillary Clinton will come to an end, and that the party must soon come together to back her.......

Mr. Obama made the remarks after reporters had left a fund-raising event in Austin, Tex., for the Democratic National Committee. The comments were described by three people in the room for the event, all of whom were granted anonymity to describe a candid moment with the president. The comments were later confirmed by a White House official..........

Mr. Obama chose his words carefully, and did not explicitly call on Mr. Sanders to depart the race, according to those in the room. Still, those in attendance said in interviews that they took his comments as a signal to Mr. Sanders that perpetuating his campaign, which is now an uphill climb, could only help the Republicans recapture the White House..........

Those in attendance described an urgency in Mr. Obama’s tone as he suggested that Democrats needed to come together to prevent an opening for the Republicans, whose leading candidate is Donald J. Trump, to exploit....

But, while he stressed that he was not endorsing either candidate, and that both would make good presidents, Mr. Obama went on to lavish praise on Mrs. Clinton, describing her as smart, tough and experienced, and said that she would continue the work of his administration. Mr. Sanders has very publicly criticized Mr. Obama on certain policies and has called for a “political revolution.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/us/politics/obama-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders.html?_r=0

[yallerdawg]

1. We should end the sideshow...

and focus on the implosion of the Republican Party!

That's where the fun is!

[charlyvi]

2. According to berniedudes

They've been coalesced behind her all along!!!! LOL

[Cha]

26. Yeah, and BS has been bashing the President.. go figuure.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

34. I tell you it's a conspiracy

Between Wall Street, the Bilderbergers, the Tri-lateral Commission, the Illuminati and the Keebler Elves to deny Bernie Sanders and his glorious revolution the nomination.

[DemonGoddess]

38. Keebler Elves!

[Iliyah]

3. There are about 3-5 threads about this. Ins't it delicious - LOL

[Rose Siding]

6. Thanks -I don't usually read the rest of the board

Hope I'm not in the way

[GusBob]

4. The Berniebros can't wait to crucify PBO

You can't be a demagogue unless you attack the biggest target

[Iliyah]

7. Can't wait? S**t, thats all they have been doing besides trashing HRC.

[GusBob]

8. Ya but now.........

Torches and pitchforks
Tar and feathers
Under the bus

I bet we hear the "I" word later tonight

Revolutions aint easy

[taught_me_patience]

15. They are already swarming GDP with anti-Obama vitriol

They will never learn... it's getting sad and pathetic given that what Obama said was 100% truth... this thing is over.

[charlyvi]

5. Ironic that PBO is privately "primarying" Bernie. n/t

[Walk away]

13. Bernie...meet Karma!

[charlyvi]

18. What goes down comes around. LOL! eom

[Cha]

25. Damn Straight! Now what were you sayin' about having Prez O primaried in 2012?

I'm so happy this is coming to fruition.. I've been saying this from the very beginning of Hillary's launch.. the Nom is going to want to have Obama campaigning with them and for them.

'Course BS took no heed but Hillary and the President have a great relationship.. and why the hell wouldn't the next Dem President want to build on the successes of the last 7 years.. you'd have to be crazy not to.

Bad strategy, BS.

[Walk away]

28. I wonder if Bernie is socially challenged....

He tries to primary Obama and then he can't understand why the Democratic party hates him. He trashes the party every chance he can get. He has his creepy followers bully and threaten Democratic pols all over social media and then he bleats about why he has no Super Delegates.

I honestly don't think he realizes that he is the Ted Cruz of the Democratic Party. You could shoot him on the floor of the Senate and a jury of Senators would let you go scott free!

[charlyvi]

36. Well, he has 19yr olds telling him how wise and politically pure he is.

That's got to pump your chest a bit.

[Walk away]

39. He won't look so pure when he endorses Hillary for POTUS!!!!

[BlueCaliDem]

17. Didn't see it that way, but you're on to something, charlyvi!

I'm just happy that my wonderful president is slowly getting closer to outright endorsing Hillary. She couldn't want a stronger ally than President Obama!

[charlyvi]

19. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes he Can!

[FloridaBlues]

32. Love that picture !

[BlueCaliDem]

37. Nice one, isn't it? Found it on the Google. :-) eom

[johnp3907]

27. YES!

[geek tragedy]

9. This just in: President Obama endorses math nt

[Cha]

24. ...

I love it..

[Tarheel_Dem]

10. He's right. Why would a "Democrat" want to do intentional harm to the nominee at this point? nt

[GusBob]

11. And Sanders' supporters are LYING to proclaim

That Sanders is in the EXACT position that PBO was in 2008 Primary



You can't make this shit up

[Walk away]

12. Come on Bernie!!! Elizabeth Warren desperately wants to endorse Hillary but....

she can't do it until you cry "Uncle!". She can't risk offending her uber-Progressive followers. She counts on them for a lot of her funding. Why don't you give the Millennials a break and let them keep their allowances for pot and gas money!

[bluestateguy]

14. Asking Sanders to drop out will not be helpful

It will only make him and his supporters angry.

The best thing for Hillary to do now is just ignore him and transition to a general election strategy. She should also not agree to any more debates with him, save for those that have already been agreed upon.

[hamsterjill]

16. Yes, I agree, but I think this is what is happening.

Hillary is going to start getting more and more endorsements/attention from leading Democrats, and she will begin to focus more and more on Trump and less and less on Bernie Sanders.

I don't think anyone should be asking Sanders to drop out, but I think the writing IS on the wall, and I think Bernie probably knows it himself, and I think he will ultimately call for unity within the party.

I backed Hillary in 2008, but when it was obvious that she was not going to be the nominee, I took a minute to brood, and then got behind Obama. I expect nothing less from any other Democrat, and now that Bernie is a "Democrat", I expect that from him, as well when the time comes.

[SharonClark]

21. Excellent post!

[hamsterjill]

22. Why, thank you.

And welcome to DU.

[Fla Dem]

23. I could have written this post. Everything you said I agree with, including the 2008 primary.

It would be a good move for the party if Bernie would concede at some point. If he was fair and not just trying to prove a point, or get more recognition for himself, he would do the right thing. Let's face it if he really cared about the outcome of the GE, he would stop trying to divert attention to himself and stop throwing punches at Hillary so she could focus totally on thumping Trump.

[bellicosecello]

33. I have to agree. I wish this had stayed under wraps

This is being spun as President Obama disinfranchising folks. I live in Pa. and work on a college campus and all day today I heard supporters of Sen. Sanders referencing this story and saying that President Obama was giving the middle finger to those states that have not held primaries/caucuses yet. This is false. Obama did not call for Sen. Sanders to drop out or for those pledged to him. He simply spoke to donors who Sen. Sanders said his campaign wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole and told them the unadulterated truth -- Hillary will be the nominee, and it was coming time to unite behind her and show the country the sane alternative to the Repub cluster-you-know-what.

The problem is, I fear this came too soon after Hillary's Tuesday sweep. I really think that the writing was on the wall for all except the most hardened Sanders supporters and that if he had a poor showing in Arizona, which is looking likely, Sen. Sanders himself would bow out gracefully and encourage his supporters to support Hillary.

Now, I fear that President Obama has given the Hillary-haters on Sen. Sanders's side red meat, and may push Sanders to stay in the race until the bitter end. We need to get united as a party. All the misogynistic vitriol, email lies, Benghazi nonsense and so on will get continually dredged up the longer Sen. Sanders stays in.

I notice the NYT story was given on anonymity. I feel that this story was leaked to damage Hillary. President Obama has done nothing wrong, but this will stay in the news cycle and be twisted beyond recognition. I can only hope that if he does poorly in Arizona, Sen. Sanders will take a hard look at his campaign and path forward and consider what is best for the party and the country.

[all american girl]

20. I'm not sure why the Bernie**** are upset...he was talking to donors

Bernie doesn't use these types of donors. I would think they would be proud...

[Cha]

29. We already know that President Obama wants Hillary to be #45.. I mean why wouldn't he?!

She is the one who wants to build on his legacy that he's worked on for 7 years. Bernie wants to scap it.

Besides that he knows she'll make an excellent President!

Mahalo for this, Rose Thank you, President Obama!

[Starry Messenger]

30. I sorely wanted to dig up a few posts from months ago.

A few in GDP were convinced President Obama was practically doing eye-blinks in code to say he was going to endorse BS.

[UtahLib]

31. Happy to hear this, time to stop stalling and move forward

[George II]

35. He's been surreptitiously endorsing her for a couple of months.