Although President Barack Obama has showered Hillary Clinton with praise, going on to comment that she would make “an excellent President”, he is not ready to endorse her right away for the high office. Confirming this, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said this was because there might be other friends of President Obama who might as well enter the race.
“Secretary Clinton proved to be a very effective Secretary of State. Over that time, President Obama has had the opportunity to build a strong personal relationship with her. As the President indicated in his news conference on Saturday, the two of them have become friends,” Earnest told reporters, adding: “But as has been speculated by all of you and many others, there are other people who are friends of the President who may at some point decide to get into the race. So the President has not offered up any sort of an endorsement at this point.”
Stating that it is for the Democratic voters to decide the party nominee for President, Earnest commented that the nominee so chosen can be confident of enjoying Obama’s support in the campaign.
One of Obama’s closest of friends, Vice President Joe Biden, has not spoken definitively one way or the other about throwing his hat in the ring. Most analysts believe he will not.
The Republican field, in contrast, is brimming with activity. On Monday, Florida Senator Marco Rubio became the third Republican to announce his presidential bid – after Senators Ted Cruz from Texas and Rand Paul from Kentucky. If Clinton aims to be America’s first woman president, Rubio wants to be the first Hispanic to enter the White House — Hispanics are America’s largest minority, accounting for as many as 58 million of the US population of 316.5 million as of July 2013.
The 43-year-old Rubio, a first-term Senator like Cruz and Paul, said: “I have heard some suggest that I should step aside and wait my turn. But I cannot. Because I believe our very identity as an exceptional nation is at stake, and I can make a difference as President.” Rubio, who may be facing a dozen or more aspirants for the Republican ticket, instead took aim at Clinton, calling her “a leader from yesterday”.
“Just yesterday, a leader from yesterday began a campaign for President by promising to take us back to yesterday. But yesterday is over, and we are never going back. We Americans are proud of our history, but our country has always been about the future,” commented Rubio, who used to be a Tea Party favourite until his softening on immigration reform came to rile the conservatives, prompting him to attempt a U-turn.