The President Jumped the Gun by Telling Democratic Donors It's Time to Unite Around Hillary

By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Facebook Page

18 March 16

ccording to today's New York Times (whose recent track record of impartiality is hardly impeccable), President Obama held a private meeting with key Democratic donors last Friday in which he told them it’s time to unite behind Hillary Clinton in order to defeat Donald Trump. In “unusually candid remarks,” Obama acknowledged she’s perceived to have weaknesses as a candidate and some Democrats view her as inauthentic, but he said authenticity isn’t all that important, pointing to the fact that George W. Bush was once praised for his authenticity.

If the story is true, it was a bad idea for the President to hold such a meeting because:

1. Barely half the primaries and caucuses have been held, and Bernie is expected to do well in coming contests in Arizona, Wisconsin, Idaho, Utah, Washington state, and New York.


2. It’s hardly necessary to tell big donors to unite behind Hillary because they already have; Bernie isn’t getting their money.


3. Such meetings with big Democratic donors won’t exactly help Hillary attract enthusiastic Bernie supporters if she gets the Democratic nomination and needs them for the general election.


4. If anything, such meetings reinforce the notion that Hillary Clinton is the epicenter of the same Wall Street-corporate-Democratic complex that had far too much influence over both her husband’s and Obama’s administrations.

What do you think?