Disclaimer: This article may contain the personal views and opinions of the author.
It’s no secret that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had a complicated relationship. They were bitter rivals during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, but after Obama won the nomination, he chose Clinton as his secretary of state.
Now, a new book by national correspondent Gabriel Debenedetti sheds some light on the real relationship between Obama and Clinton – and how it nearly resulted in Clinton being tapped as Obama’s running mate for the 2012 election.
According to The Daily Mail, which obtained an early copy of the book, “After the Democrats’ heavy losses in the 2010 midterm elections, Obama did consider asking Clinton to be his running mate for 2012 despite denying it at the time.”
Debenedetti reports that Obama was worried about his chances of re-election and thought that adding Clinton to the ticket would give him a boost. However, Obama ultimately decided against it and chose to keep Joe Biden as his running mate.
The book also reveals that Obama was not a fan of Biden’s signature phrase, “Here’s the deal,” and that he considered replacing Biden with Clinton in 2012 because he thought she would be a stronger running mate.
Despite their complicated history, Obama and Clinton eventually developed a good working relationship, and she even endorsed him for re-election in 2012.
It’s clear that Obama and Clinton have had their ups and downs, but it’s fascinating to see how close they came to being running mates in 2012.
More than two dozen sources were interviewed for the report, which says Obama asked his aides to explore all possibilities with few limitations on their research. They gauged Clinton’s name among supporters.
“As the ‘chatter became a roar’ Biden became ‘distraught’ at the prospect he would not be around for a second term, but Obama eventually stuck with him.
“The two men’s relationship was further tested in 2012 over the issue of gay marriage.
“Obama planned to announce that he supported it in a TV interview, likely on ABC with Robin Roberts, the Good Morning America host.
“But before he could do that Biden gave a TV interview and said that was his opinion too, sparking national headlines about the historic significance of such a statement.
“Among Obama’s aides, there was ‘disbelieving fury’ while some said: ‘We can’t trust him to say his lines and he’s out of practice anyway.’
‘He’s ruined what should have been Obama’s historic moment because he can’t control his loud mouth’ or exclaimed: ‘What the f***?’”
In the end, Obama decided against it and went on to win reelection with Biden by his side. But the fact that he even considered such a move shows how much he valued Clinton as a political ally.
It’s also a reminder of how different things could have been if Clinton had won the Democratic nomination in 2008. Obama might not have been president at all if she had been his running mate in 2012.
So while we can’t know for sure what would have happened, it’s clear that Obama saw Clinton as a valuable asset and was considering using her to help him win a second term. Who knows, maybe she would have been president today if things had gone differently.
