As the 2016 presidential candidates hit the campaign trail, they will inevitably search for endorsements from people of influence.
While Republican candidates will spend the next few months trying to become the Koch brothers’ next sugar baby, Democratic candidates will have to win the approval of the most powerful man in the nation, and de facto leader of their party: President Obama.
Who will win the highly-prized Presidential endorsement?
Will it help them on their journey to the primaries or will they ultimately stumble and fall under the sheer weight of our president’s controversial legacy?
We, the Indiana Daily Student Editorial Board, have decided to explore a few of Obama’s options in the upcoming race.
Hillary Rodham Clinton:
Previously considered a shoe-in for the Democratic nomination, recent controversy surrounding her use of a personal email for official Department of State business, as well as a failure to distinguish her politics from our president have led many to lose faith in Clinton.
However, the release of her emails has shown they have approximately as much scandalous content as the House Select Committee on Benghazi, which is to say absolutely nothing.
Really, they reveal a technologically-impaired middle-aged woman, which is endearing in the face of what conservative pundits might have us believe.
And while her campaign might have struck some as lackluster so far, we hold that the combination of pantsuits and middle-class economics could take her all the way to the oval office.
Her Snapchat tells the whole story: Kimye and others make appearances, reaching our generation in a way that highlights both her qualifications for the presidency and her on-point selfie skills.
That, paired with the fact that she’ll be 69 years old during the elections — and we all know how the White House loves a good sex scandal — make her the Democratic forerunner she is today.
This is Clinton’s time to shine. Obama would be crazy not to endorse her as our next president of the United States.
Bernie Sanders:
Out of what seemed like left field, Bernie Sanders has seen soaring popularity, Sanders, a self-described socialist democrat, is the longest-serving independent member of Congress in history, which highlights the fact that he is hella grassroots.
After gaining some prominence on the national scale for his 2010 filibuster of extending Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy, he serves the disenfranchised liberals within the Democratic party or otherwise.
As a participant of sit-ins during the Civil Rights era, he knows how it feels to be an underdog, yet remaining principled in the face of arrest, which happened to him at least once.
If President Obama were to endorse Bernie, he would be handing giving the keys to the nation to the nation’s coolest grandpa.
Even in the somewhat unlikely event that Obama were to endorse Bernie, Hillary would still have the backing of at least one president.
Plus, it would be pretty funny to see Obama telling Hillary to #FeelTheBern.
It’s surprising that the voice of reason among the 2016 candidates is yet another old, white guy, but the underdog story is the oldest tale in the book, and we as a culture can’t get enough of it.
Maybe it’s this old dog’s time to shine, and maybe it isn’t. One thing is for certain, though — Lincoln Chafee, Martin O’Malley and Jim Webb don’t stand much of a chance in the shadows of these two political giants.
Joe Biden:
While good ol’ Uncle Joe has not formally announced his candidacy, there is talk that he might run.
After a recent trip to Florida, among other places, to give a speech at a Democratic fundraiser, paired with his coy attitude about it in the press, gossip is mounting that he is gearing up for a campaign.
If so, he might have to address a number of topics, such as income inequality, that his critics feel he is incapable of doing so adequately.
Furthermore, he will have to surmount his reputation of being comically unaware of personal space in public, as well as his “they’re going to put ya’ll back in chains” speech from 2012.
