Party over country, let the coronation begin!
Washington (CNN)Seeming to let bygones be bygones, President Barack Obama’s top 2008 campaign strategist threw his enthusiastic backing behind Hillary Clinton Saturday, saying she was best positioned to carry Obama’s legacy.
David Plouffe — who during a drawn-out Democratic primary battle in 2008 deemed Clinton “one of the most secretive politicians in America” — wrote in an online posting that over the years he’s come to respect Clinton’s tenacity.
“Here’s what I, and so many of my fellow Obama campaign veterans, have learned about Hillary: She doesn’t quit. And there were times I wish she had!” Plouffe wrote on Medium. “But you have to deeply admire that strength and persistence.”
He said in the post that seven years ago, he “would never have imagined writing this piece.” But as the icy relations thawed between Obama and Clinton, he said it became clear that Clinton was the Democratic Party’s best bet at keeping control of the White House.
“Americans still need a president who will wake up every day, prepared to overcome any obstacle on their behalf,” he wrote. “Hillary Clinton should — and I believe will — be that president.”
With the exception of a few cabinet officials, top names in Obama’s orbit have resisted backing a candidate in the Democratic primary, waiting instead until Vice President Joe Biden made his political aspirations known. He said this week he would not enter the race.
The decision prompted signs of relief from some of Obama’s top aides, who see Clinton as the candidate most likely to capture the Democratic nomination and defeat a Republican rival.
Even in public, the White House was more ebullient about Clinton this week than in weeks past, when the focus was on Biden.