The White House will campaign for Clinton, but not in the SOTU speech.

[SunSeeker]

People inside the West Wing have a vision of President Barack Obama’s 2016: he’ll take on the role that Bill Clinton played for him in 2012, the elder statesman and battering ram, laying out a fact- and figure-based case for why Democratic governing gets better results than Republican promises.

That’s coming, aides say. But not on Tuesday...“He will talk about who we are as Americans and focus on some consistent themes of his presidency—a country that adapts to challenges, that creates things, that believes that change and progress are possible,” the aide said.

But there’s a way that a speech like that helps Clinton, said Mo Elleithee, a spokesman for Clinton’s 2008 campaign who’s now the executive director of Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service.

“This is an important moment in defining his legacy. But it can also help her in two ways. By going out there and selling the past seven years, she doesn’t have to. She can stay focused on the future,” Elleithee said. “And, he can begin making the case to general election voters while she’s still in a primary. He can begin looking down the field before she has the luxury to, or before she’s allowed to.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/2016-state-of-the-union-obama-clinton-217541#ixzz3wsvTXwNG

[dlwickham]

1. Gas up that bus

Some people are going to be throwing Obama under it

[BooScout]

7. Oh they did that ages ago...

[Cha]

11. Oh, President Obama has already been under that stupid bus for them forever.. same with BS..

he wanted Obama primaried in 2012.

So, that means nothing. The President is popular and has accomplished so much our Country. I am so glad to see this. It's what I imagined happening.

See my sig line of the two of them campaigning in 2008.

[Thinkingabout]

2. I don't think it should be part of the SOTU, there is enough issues to talk about

Especially the gun issues.

[Rose Siding]

3. This is nice- White House polling (not used for this SOTU) is run by Clinton's

chief strategist-

The White House asked for input from the Cabinet and other agencies like usual, but Obama never intended to do a speech full of standard call-outs and name-checks. They even skipped the usual State of the Union-specific focus group testing, though regular White House polling continues to be run by the firm of Joel Benenson, who’s also now the chief strategist for Clinton’s campaign.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/2016-state-of-the-union-obama-clinton-217541#ixzz3wsyp0kSv

Maybe they've been working in more concert than we know.

[1StrongBlackMan]

4. I doubt, very seriously, that President Obama ...

will endorse ANYONE before the primaries are decided.

And, though he may have a personal preference, he will do what is best for the party ... endorse the primary winner.

[NastyRiffraff]

5. You're right

He's already said so.

http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/pres-obama-won-t-make-dem-primary-endorsement-wh-n493606

[Walk away]

6. I believe that if Bernie Sanders doesn't take a serious and specific stand on gun ....

control, President Obama will endorse Hillary. It would be different if Sanders was a Democrat but he isn't. No one in the party owes him anything and the President has already made it clear that he will NOT endorse anyone not committed to this cause that is dear to him.
If this were a race between Biden and Hillary or any other Democratic politician there would be a precedent to wait for the nomination. In this case there is none.

[Dawson Leery]

8. Correct.

Guns Galore cannot get away with ignoring a signature issue of President Obama's.

Bernie is hurting the party. His campaign is taking resources from other Democrats who are running for congress and local offices.

[Walk away]

9. How can we ever know how many people have died because the Brady Bill was never enacted????

How can we tell how many lives could be saved if victims had the right to sue gun manufacturers???? Who is responsible for the lives lost?

The leader of our party can't kowtow to a small bunch of RedNeck gun owners in a state that hasn't grown in population since the Revolutionary War.

[Dawson Leery]

10. Agreed.

BS is unfit for office.

[MrChuck]

13. UMMM...

...The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Pub.L. 103–159, 107 Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act and commonly called the Brady Bill,[1][2] is an Act of the United States Congress that mandated federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States, and imposed a five-day waiting period on purchases, until the NICS system was implemented in 1998.

It's true that Sanders voted against the bill and I won't waste time explaining why since no one cares. I will point out that the bill went through five iterations and the sole reason for Sanders NAY vote remained intact throughout the process. Also, every other measure besides that single provision is something that Senator Sanders has supported over his career.

[Walk away]

15. Incredible that he would hold up a bill that he supposedly believes in for such a stupid reason.

Sounds like skunking out so he could pander to the few rural Americans that keep him elected in his ultra low population state.

[MrChuck]

16. stupid reason?

The bill failed to distinguish any difference between filing a multi-million dollar suit against a gun manufacturer or a small gun shop.
Through five versions the drafting legislator failed to alter that aspect of the bill.

[Cha]

12. President Obama will be campaigning for Hillary when she wins the GE and won't it be

fine?! Just like in 2008 only reverse!

Thank you, SunSeeker!

[William769]

14. Sorry I missed this yesterday.

Kick & highly recommended!