{"id":189250,"date":"2021-03-04T17:12:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T22:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=189250"},"modified":"2021-03-04T17:13:02","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T22:13:02","slug":"book-obama-enamored-with-beto-orourke-skeptical-of-joe-biden-in-2020-democratic-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/book-obama-enamored-with-beto-orourke-skeptical-of-joe-biden-in-2020-democratic-primary\/","title":{"rendered":"Book: Obama \u2018Enamored\u2019 with Beto O\u2019Rourke, Skeptical of Joe Biden in 2020 Democratic Primary"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbook-obama-enamored-with-beto-orourke-skeptical-of-joe-biden-in-2020-democratic-primary%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=189250&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/obama-beto-final.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>A new book on the 2020 election provides more evidence suggesting former president Barack Obama has a remarkably low opinion of\u00a0his former sidekick, Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Obama&#8217;s fears about Biden and his team ran deep\u2014deeper than defeat,&#8221; journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes write in\u00a0<em><span id=\"productTitle\" class=\"a-size-extra-large\">Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency<\/span><\/em><span id=\"productTitle\" class=\"a-size-extra-large\">.<\/span>\u00a0&#8220;Obama worried that his former vice president would embarrass himself on the campaign trail and that the people around him would not be able to prevent a belly-flop.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"posts-content__category-widget md:hidden -ml-4 -mr-4 my-8 px-4 py-6 bg-gray-100\">\n<h4 class=\"mt-0 text-red-600 font-medium font-sans uppercase\">Recent Stories in Politics<\/h4>\n<ul class=\"list-none p-0\">\n<li class><a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/politics\/obama-beto-love\/\"><strong>Book: Obama \u2018Enamored&#8217; with Beto O&#8217;Rourke, Skeptical of Joe Biden in 2020 Democratic Primary<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li class><a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/swing-district-dem-flip-flops-on-minimum-wage\/\"><strong>Swing District Dem Flip-Flops on Minimum Wage<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li class><a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/politics\/former-flack-for-gop-russia-stooge-finds-redemption-as-lincoln-project-damage-control-adviser\/\"><strong>Former Flack for GOP Russia Stooge Finds Redemption as Lincoln Project Damage Control Adviser<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Obama, who had vowed to remain neutral during the Democratic primary in 2020, had repeatedly urged Biden not to run for president.\u00a0&#8220;It had stung Biden badly in 2015 when Obama made clear his preference for Hillary Clinton,&#8221; the authors write. &#8220;Adding insult to injury, Obama&#8217;s advisers told Biden aides back then that they didn&#8217;t think he could beat Clinton. They pressured him to get out of the way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Obama&#8217;s lack of support in 2016 was especially insulting to Biden because the former VP thought Hillary was a &#8220;terrible candidate&#8221; who would be easy to beat.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, Obama tried once again to talk Biden out of running. &#8220;You don&#8217;t have to do this, Joe, you really don&#8217;t,&#8221; the former president told Biden, according to the <em>New York Times<\/em>. Allen and Parnes explain that Obama&#8217;s &#8220;reluctance to bless Biden&#8217;s candidacy&#8221; was born out of a &#8220;fear that\u00a0Biden would dishonor himself with a bad campaign.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Obama ended up being wrong about Biden&#8217;s prospects and seems to have embarrassingly misjudged the Democratic primary in general.\u00a0&#8220;Obama, like much of his brain trust, seemed to be enamored with a former Texas congressman, Beto O&#8217;Rourke,&#8221; the authors write.<\/p>\n<p>O&#8217;Rourke, whose most notable accomplishment before running for president was losing an election to Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), launched his campaign with a <em>Vanity Fair<\/em> cover story in March 2019. Many of the Democratic Party&#8217;s foremost political pundits insisted that Beto was a formidable candidate who reminded them of Obama and <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/blog\/how-to-write-the-perfect-glossy-profile-of-beto-orourke\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John F. Kennedy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Beto&#8217;s splashy entry into the Democratic primary was fueled by the <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/politics\/obama-bundlers-beto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">support<\/a> of wealthy Obama donors, as well as former Obama aides, <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/politics\/beto-save-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">including<\/a> the &#8220;Pod Save America&#8221; bros. The fact that Obama himself was &#8220;enamored&#8221; with the failed candidate might have had something to do with it.<\/p>\n<p>Alas, even Obama&#8217;s infatuation could not save the former congressman from another failed campaign. Beto <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/politics\/born-to-lose-beto-drops-out-of-2020-race\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dropped out<\/a>\u00a0of the race in November 2019, just eight months after launching his campaign and months before the Iowa caucuses. (He would have struggled to finish in the top 10.)<\/p>\n<p>The new revelations about Obama&#8217;s views on Biden are supported by previous reporting. Biden has said the former president &#8220;was not encouraging&#8221; heading into the Democratic primary in 2020. During the campaign, Obama reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2020\/08\/14\/obama-biden-relationship-393570\">assessed<\/a> that Biden &#8220;really doesn&#8217;t have it&#8221; and warned Democrats not to &#8220;underestimate Joe&#8217;s ability to fuck things up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Even after Biden won the Democratic nomination, Obama declined to <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/2020-election\/obama-biden-donation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">donate<\/a> any money to his general election campaign, despite being a multimillionaire. Just days after Biden&#8217;s victory in November, the former president stole the spotlight by launching a <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/2020-election\/obama-spotlight-hog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">book tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Beto is currently &#8220;thinking about&#8221; launching a failed campaign for <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/politics\/beto-for-governor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">governor<\/a> of Texas.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-8 hide-print\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1526555381173-4\" class=\"mobile-250 desktop-90\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new book on the 2020 election provides more evidence suggesting former president Barack Obama has a remarkably low opinion of\u00a0his former sidekick, Joe Biden. &#8220;Obama&#8217;s fears about Biden and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2274723,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/obama-beto-final.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Book: Obama \u2018Enamored\u2019 with Beto O\u2019Rourke, Skeptical of Joe Biden in 2020 Democratic Primary","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-189250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/obama-beto-final.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Book: Obama \u2018Enamored\u2019 with Beto O\u2019Rourke, Skeptical of Joe Biden in 2020 Democratic Primary","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2274723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}