How Many People Want Obama to Be President Again
(CNN)When former President Barack Obama walked into the White House on Tuesday, information technology was his beginning time in the building since he welcomed then-President-elect Donald Trump for coffee on the morning of Trump'south inauguration.
That friendly greeting at the Due north Portico -- including the awkward handoff of a blue Tiffany'southward box the Trumps had brought as a gift -- couldn't foretell the acrimony that would prevarication ahead, every bit Trump shattered the relative amity that had once existed betwixt former and current presidents.
Obama'south return to the White Business firm didn't include any of that ugliness. Instead, he was celebrating one of his signature achievements, the Affordable Care Act, alongside the man who served with him in the building for eight years.
"Information technology feels like the good one-time days," President Joe Biden said alongside his onetime boss, whose render to the Due east Room resembled a reunion of his elevation allies, many of whom are at present serving in Biden's Chiffonier or in Congress.
"Information technology is good to be back in the White House. Information technology's been a while," Obama said when he began his remarks. "I confess I heard some changes accept been fabricated by the current President since I was last here. Apparently Secret Service agents accept to wear aviator sunglasses now. The Navy Mess has been replaced by a Baskin-Robbins. And there'southward a cat running around."
Obama began his speech by addressing his host every bit "Vice President Biden" before quickly correcting himself. "That was a joke!" he exclaimed, walking over to give Biden a hug. "That was all set up. My President, Joe Biden."
2 people close to Obama later said it had been a slip of the natural language, and non how Obama had intended to brainstorm his remarks touting the legacy of the Affordable Intendance Act.
The episode inappreciably ranks loftier on the list of presidential gaffes that either man has made over the years. Notwithstanding it did crusade at least a few eyes to roll among Biden loyalists, who have long questioned whether Obama views his successor as an equal.
Biden and Obama were announcing steps the White House says volition make health intendance more than affordable, including endmost a loophole that prevents millions of Americans from qualifying for subsidies.
Still, that it took more than a year for Biden to welcome his former boss to the White House reflects his want to stake out a presidency of his own, even as the timing of the visit makes clear he is not opposed to seeking aid as Democrats caryatid for a bruising midterm election season.
With many of Biden's legislative priorities stalled, Obama on Tuesday seemed to offer a preview of Democrats' midterm bulletin.
"Progress feels manner as well dull sometimes. Victories are frequently incomplete," he said, citing the health law every bit an example of persistence in governing.
After two terms working in Obama's shadow, Biden has strived at moments to differentiate himself from his predecessor, most noticeably on foreign policy. And Obama has been cognizant of allowing Biden room to govern every bit his own man.
While Obama has occasionally spoken to Biden over the last yr, their phone conversations have been infrequent, co-ordinate to people close to both men, and they have seen each other merely a few times over the concluding xv months -- despite Obama residing only 10 minutes away from the White Business firm in Washington.
In public, each likes to play up a warm friendship that developed over Obama'due south presidency. Biden oftentimes slips a reference to "Barack" in his remarks, harkening dorsum to a piece of communication or an within joke they shared. Sometimes the results are somewhat pained: On "Best Friends Day" in 2019, Biden shared an image of friendship bracelets with "Joe" and "Barack" written in beads.
"They are existent friends, not only Washington friends," printing secretary Jen Psaki said Mon. "I'm certain they will talk virtually events in the world too as their families and personal lives."
She said it was "exactly the correct time" for Obama to return to the White House after more v years away.
When Obama visited the White House on Tuesday, he joined Biden for luncheon in addition to attending the health care result in the Rose Garden. Obama and Biden had lunch together every week when they served in the White House.
"We weren't sure who was supposed to sit where," Biden said during the East Room event afterwards.
The visit was viewed every bit a success past both Biden and Obama, aides told CNN.
The former President lingered at the White Firm for about an hour for private conversations, and caught upwards with several of his old staffers who piece of work in the Biden administration including Psaki, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, domestic policy adviser Susan Rice and deputy White House principal of staff Jennifer O'Malley Dillon.
Still, in that location take been limits to the Biden-Obama friendship. Biden revealed last year that he had been invited into Obama'southward private residence only once over their eight years together in the White House. They have vastly different personalities and working styles. And their relationship has been colored past various slights, real or perceived, that nevertheless linger.
Obama declined to endorse Biden over other Democrats in the 2020 main, a stride both men insisted was necessary to allow a truthful competition within the party. Iv years earlier, Obama had viewed Hillary Clinton equally his Democratic successor instead of Biden, who decided non to run every bit he grappled with his son'due south death.
All that makes Tuesday's issue a significant moment for each human being. For Obama, information technology also marks the beginning of a cord of public events, including a keynote speech on disinformation that he'll deliver at Stanford later this month.
A popular surrogate emerges
His return to the White House is the beginning sign of what many Democrats hope volition exist his increased involvement in the 2022 midterm elections. The erstwhile President and erstwhile first lady Michelle Obama are two of the near sought-after political party leaders -- expected to be in high demand by Senate and House candidates this year.
That could potentially stand in contrast to Biden, whose approval ratings remain near historic lows heading into campaign flavor. Biden is eager to entrada for Democrats in the coming twelvemonth, just has too fabricated known he is open to any role his party sees as helpful.
Obama is no stranger to uphill midterm battles; he endured losses in both 2010 and 2014. Yet he left office with an approval rating amongst the highest for any departing president, and remains popular amid Democrats.
The Obamas have not yet determined how visible they intend to exist in the autumn entrada, but aides say they will both devote time to Democratic efforts to maintain control of the House and Senate.
The decision to have Obama appear alongside Biden at the White House this week was designed to shine a brighter light on 1 of the often-overlooked achievements of the Biden administration: strengthening the Affordable Care Act.
It's reminiscent of sometime President Bill Clinton coming to the White Firm to help explain the economical efforts employed past Obama during the financial crisis in the early years of his tenure. That appearance, in 2010, was remembered principally for Clinton holding court from the briefing room podium for half an hour -- long later Obama had exited the room.
The health care constabulary remains i of the lasting legacies of the Obama administration. When it passed, Biden made ane of his near infamous asides when he whispered to Obama that it was a "big f**king deal."
It's no small irony that the messy wellness intendance fight -- 1 of the cardinal reasons Democrats lost control of Congress on Obama's lookout man more than a decade ago -- ended in a police force now seen every bit broadly popular with Americans. Republicans accept all simply dropped their efforts to repeal and supplant it after failing to do so for years.
"Given all the racket and the controversy and the skepticism, information technology took a while for the American people to understand what nosotros had done, only, lo and behold -- a little later than I'd expected -- a lot of folks, including many who had initially opposed health care reform, came effectually," Obama said during his remarks Tuesday. "And today, the ACA hasn't but survived, it's pretty darn pop."
Obama has remained engaged on the law since leaving office, taping videos encouraging Americans to enroll and breaking a about-silence on political issues to criticize Republicans for attempting to undermine it. He and Biden appeared in a video together last August encouraging Americans to sign upward, 1 of their but joint appearances since Biden took office.
"We're going to get even more than people covered in the years to come under your guidance," Obama told Biden in the video. "Love yous, human."
Signing off, as Obama told Biden he was proud of him, the sitting President said to expect him to stay in touch.
"I'k still going to call you for advice," Biden said.
Obama's visit to the White House on Tuesday will non be his last.
Plans have been underway for months for the formal unveiling of his portrait -- a presidential rite of passage that was disrupted during the Trump administration and delayed during the outset year of the Biden administration, when the Covid-19 pandemic limited such events at the White House.
This story has been updated with boosted developments and reporting on Tuesday.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/05/politics/obama-biden-white-house-health-care-midterms/index.html
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