海角大神

So President Obama is going to back Sen. Elizabeth Warren for the 2016 Democratic nomination, not ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? That鈥檚 what a piece in The New York Post says Monday, in any case.

Author Ed Klein claims that Obama is worried that Mrs. Clinton, if she becomes president, would 鈥渦ndo and undermine鈥� many of his (Obama鈥檚) policies. Also, there鈥檚 no love lost between Obama and Bill Clinton, according to Mr. Klein.

Obama is keeping mum on this decision for now but will reveal it in the fullness of time, when it can do the most good, which will be sometime after the midterm elections, say sources quoted in this piece.

Big, if true. But most likely not true, so smaller. OK, almost certainly untrue, so tiny, but interesting to look at and check for flaws in logic.

Look, we are not going to get into a discussion about the accuracy of Klein鈥檚 larger body of work. That鈥檚 going on just fine without us. He鈥檚 got a book out at the moment called 鈥淏lood Feud," which takes as its thesis that the Clinton and Obama families hate each other. Some reviewers have noted that it is thinly sourced and contains wooden dialogue. The mainstream media have been reluctant to take it at face value.

Moving along, we鈥檒l start with the obvious substantive question: If Obama dislikes Clinton so much, why did her make her secretary of State? That makes it look like he, you know, trusted her judgment or something.

And would Senator Warren really defend Obama鈥檚 legacy, more so than Clinton? That鈥檚 no given. As Adam Chandler notes at The Wire, Obama has mostly governed from the center of Democratic Party ideology, which is closer to where Clinton stands than Warren.

鈥淭his idea that a Clinton presidency would 鈥榰ndo and undermine鈥� the president鈥檚 policies just seems silly,鈥� Mr. Chandler writes.

Plus, if anyone would really undo Obama鈥檚 legacy, it would be a Republican. All indications are that Elizabeth Warren would be a weaker general election candidate than Clinton. Keeping the White House in the hands of the same party for a third term will be a difficult task. You鈥檇 think Obama would back the person who makes that more likely.

But we鈥檒l set all this aside. Let鈥檚 assume for the sake of argument that Obama does want Warren, not Clinton, to succeed him.

Given that the president鈥檚 approval ratings are now underwater, it would make more sense for him to endorse the person he wants to lose, right? That鈥檚 what a clever and ruthless politician might do.