Biden-Clinton switch considered?

 

 

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Biden-Clinton switch considered?
11/1/2013 3:44:15 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Possible Biden switch revealed in unreleased book "Double Down" about 2012 campaign
• Obama campaign conducted focus groups, polling, New York Times reporter says
• Ex-Chief of Staff Bill Daley spearheaded effort, Times reporter says
• Daley said Obama may not have known about Biden switch research, reporter says

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama's closest advisers may have secretly considered replacing Vice President Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton on the 2012 ticket, but White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday that it was never a remote possibility.

"Campaigns test everything," Carney said on CNN's "New Day." "When it comes to this particular issue, do campaigns test everything? Yes."

While he said the idea was "tested," Carney insisted that it wasn't going to happen.

"I know for a fact that President Obama never considered this," Carney said.

He "never entertained it," Carney added.

Bill Daley, who was then Obama's chief of staff, said the move wasn't necessary.

No one "thought that that was a good idea or needed to be done or should be done," Daley said on "CBS This Morning."

The news was first reported by The New York Times on Thursday night and is based on "Double Down: Game Change 2012," a highly anticipated book about the presidential election by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann.

The Times obtained a copy of the book and reported that the President's top aides conducted "extensive group-sessions and polling in late 2011" to gauge whether dumping Biden could help bolster Obama's waning re-election hopes.

The book says Daley spearheaded the effort to replace Biden, despite their "close personal rapport," before ultimately deciding against the move when data showed that adding Clinton to the ticket wouldn't "materially improve Obama's odds."

Daley pushed back on the notion Friday.

"Not for a moment was there a serious discussion or a belief that Joe Biden should be replaced, period," said Daley, a CBS contributor.

Like Carney said, Daley admitted that it was something he considered and that polling and research were done to explore the possibility because it was his job to "look outside the box."

"But in 2011," Daley said, "it was a very difficult political year, and so my sense was we ought to look at everything here because this is a very -- it was a very difficult period, politically."

Polls conducted by CNN at the time showed that the President was struggling politically a year out from Election Day 2012. In the late summer and fall of 2011, Obama's approval ratings hovered around 45%, a 10-point drop from January of that year.

There was much speculation over whether Biden would be on a second-term ticket in late 2011 and early 2012.

Wolf Blitzer wrote on CNN.com in October 2011 that White House sources told him that the President was "very high" on Biden and "deeply appreciates his advice."

He said he asked Clinton, then Secretary of State, if it was something she would consider but she said, "No."

Obama's former deputy press secretary, Bill Burton, told CNN's Erin Burnett in January 2012, "Even privately, President Obama would tell you that one of the best decisions he's ever made in politics was putting Vice President Biden on his ticket."

"He's not leaving the ticket," Burton added.

According to Jonathan Martin, the Times' national political correspondent, the book provides a thorough account of the effort by senior officials inside the campaign and the White House, namely Daley, to measure what effect swapping Clinton for Biden would have on the polls.

The potential switch was a closely guarded secret within the Chicago campaign infrastructure and inside the Oval Office.

Only half a dozen of the President's closest advisers -- including Daley, former Obama campaign chief Jim Messina, and former White House senior advisers David Axelrod and David Plouffe -- knew the change was under consideration.

Plouffe quickly addressed the matter after it was reported. He denied the White House or the campaign ever contemplated the swap.

"Never any consideration of (Biden-for-Clinton) switch," Plouffe wrote in a tweet.

The move was "not ever entertained by the only person who mattered. Or most of us. Back to Halloween," he added.

Axelrod also addressed the news via Twitter.

"VP swap never in play. Biden's taken on many tough assignments. He's been loyal friend and wise counselor. POTUS lucky to have him," Axelrod wrote Friday.

But Martin pointed out on "New Day" that it was, in fact, considered.

"Campaigns don't spend that kind of money unless they're looking at something seriously," he noted.

Martin told CNN's Anderson Cooper the re-election campaign made a significant investment in finding out whether the move would pay dividends at the polls.

"Campaigns don't spend the kind of money on polling and focus groups unless they're seriously considering something," he said on CNN's "AC360."

He said on the program that he asked Daley whether his then-boss knew about the potential shuffle. While Daley said he doesn't think the President "was aware" of the potential change, the former chief of staff admitted that it's "possible" Obama knew.

Martin added that "Double Down" does not definitively answer whether the political probing reached Obama's desk.

As to whether Clinton knew, Daley said on CBS that if she did know, she "didn't find out from me."

CNN's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

 

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