OBAMA'S THIRD TERM...

RNC Video: Obama Pushing Hillary for 'Third Term'

By Caitlin Huey-Burns - February 10, 2015

Republicans are wasting no time waiting for Hillary Clinton.
While several potential candidates jockey for spots in the GOP presidential primary field, the Republican National Committee is taking the fight straight to its presumed general election opponent, who has been notably absent from public view this year. 

The RNC released a Web video Tuesday:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAaHbfMrRQ    Casting Clinton as the heir to President Obama’s third term. The spot, first shared with RealClearPolitics, pieces together heavily edited video clips taken from White House and campaign video, news interviews, and a White House correspondents’ dinner spoof, to make it look like the White House is calling upon Clinton to run and take up Obama’s mantle. 

The video opens with the president calling Clinton on his phone, which features “Hillary Home,” “Hillary Jet,” and “Hillary Jet 2” on speed-dial. “I want to know if you’re on board … because I’m counting on you,” he says in one clip, set to cheesy slow-jam music. “Of course, I will do anything to help,” Clinton says in a spliced-in separate clip. 

The spot then cuts to Obama calling upon Vice President Biden, whose response implies he is declining to run for the Oval Office. “No, I’m not going, I’ve been there once,” Biden says. “OK, good,” the president responds. 

The footage concludes with the text, “Hillary already signed up for Obama’s third term.” 

This week, the RNC launched a “Hillary’s Hiding” campaign to highlight the presumed candidate’s absence from the national stage this year after a series of high-paid speeches around the country and elsewhere. A committee memo highlights the days passed since Clinton visited Iowa (103) and New Hampshire (100), urging her to “face the American people” she wants to lead.  

With a crowded Republican field and little substantial opposition to her on the Democratic side, Clinton can afford to lie low and concentrate on building her campaign while the GOP opponents duke it out amongst themselves. Some reports say Clinton won’t officially announce her campaign until July.  

For now, the former secretary of state has taken to weighing in on issues of the day through the condensed form of Twitter. During the recent vaccine debate that put some GOP contenders on the hot seat, Clinton waited out the storm until tweeting that the “science is clear.” She used the hashtag, “#GrandmotherKnowsBest.”

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Caitlin Huey-Burns is a congressional reporter for RealClearPolitics. She can be reached at chueyburns@realclearpolitics.com. Follow her on Twitter @CHueyBurnsRCP.

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