10 June 2016
Can Barack replace Bernie as the Pied Piper of Democratic youth?
Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party’s establishment think so, reports Phillip Bump of the Washington Post:
President Obama’s surprise endorsement of Hillary Clinton on Thursday — surprise only in the sense that it was sort of sprung on everyone — made very clear what role Clinton hopes he’ll play in the race over the short term. Obama’s job is to get Democrats in line behind her candidacy. And, more specifically, it’s to get young Democrats on board.
Young Democrats backed Bernie Sanders by even wider margins than they backed Obama eight years ago. Averaging exit poll results for states where they’re available, Sanders beat Clinton by 43 points among those under the age of 30.
But young Americans have also been the group that’s most supportive of Obama’s presidency — and have become much more supportive over the last year. According to Gallup, 65 percent of those under the age of 30 viewed Obama’s job performance favorably in their most recent weekly average. That’s 14 points higher than Americans on the whole, and 25 points higher than those 65 and older. Three years ago, the difference between young voters and Americans on the whole was half as large.
So in the video announcing his endorsement, Obama made a very pointed appeal to the overlap of young voters and Sanders supporters.
Obama, reports Chris Cizzilla, Bump’s colleague at the Post, cut his endorsement video two days before this morning's meeting with Sanders. Obama might have had the decency to wait until after the Washington, D.C., primary next week before endorsing Clinton, but he clearly wanted to stick a shiv in Sanders, who has criticized Obama for not being liberal enough for the country.
The strategy is not just Obama’s way of punishing Sanders for being a liberal. It’s a calculated attempt to wrest the loyalty and admiration of Democratic youth from Sanders and return it to the pro-Wall Street wing of the Democratic party. If Obama can play the right tune, the party’s children will follow him home to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Sanders’ help won’t be needed, and Clinton can shift her policy positions back to the comfort zones of Wall Street.
Will Obama and Clinton get away with it? Possibly. The scheme is as ingenious as it is amoral. I admire it’s audacity, but I loath its anti-reform predicate.