Bernie Sanders goes to the White House Wednesday to meet with President Barack Obama, who just days ago gave a major boost to his rival, Hillary Clinton – just days before the upcoming Iowa caucus.
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The meeting comes after Obama heaped praise on other Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and dismissed comparisons between Sanders rise in the early state polls and Obama’s groundbreaking 2008 campaign against Clinton.
Quinnipiac University said Sanders, who calls himself an independent socialist Democrat, is winning the support of 49 percent of Democrats likely to participate in next Monday’s party caucuses in Iowa, compared to 45 percent for Clinton, the country’s top diplomat from 2009 to 2013.
Trump, who officially announced Wednesday that he would not participate in the last GOP debate before the Iowa nominating contest, has leapfrogged over Cruz in the state where residents will caucus on February 1. “I love debates. I think they are a way to inform the American people of our positions and our differences”. I think he and the vice president have tried to be fair and evenhanded in the process, and I expect they will continue to be.
The letter notes that Sanders has, over the years, been treated for conditions ranging from gout to hypothyroidism to diverticulitis.
The New York Times reports that while it has been a struggle to organize a private meeting with Sanders, Obama and Clinton have met several times in the previous year.
Although Obama has remained studiously neutral in the Democratic race, as good form demands, the meeting – and its timing – was an opportunity for Sanders to gain credibility and gravitas. Sanders said the president has been “even handed” in his treatment of the candidates vying to replace him, and he showed no interest in trying to strike any sharp contrast with his host.
Obama has thus far declined to endorse a candidate in the Democratic primary, though he hasn’t ruled out doing so.
The Clinton campaign said it’s open to more debates in April and May.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) emerged from his White House meeting with President Obama today saying that the two “occasionally” discussed “a little bit of politics”.
