When it comes to Sanders, I asked one close adviser whether Obama would really lay himself on the line to prevent a Sanders nomination. I cant really confirm that, the adviser said. He hasnt said that directly to me. The only reason I'm hesitating at all is because, yeah, if Bernie were running away with it, I think maybe we would all have to say something. But I don't think that's likely. It's not happening. (Another close Obama friend said, Bernie's not a Democrat.)
As for Warren, the candidate who has tried to bridge the worlds of Sanders and Obama, Obamas relationship with Warren is famously complicated. Back in early 2015, when Warren was considering running for president and started to excite progressives, Obama said privately that if Democrats rallied around her as their nominee it would be a repudiation of hima clear sign that his economic decisions after the Great Recession had been seen as inadequate. There are very few former senior Obama officials in Warrens campaign.
The Obama diaspora is most heavily represented in Bidens campaign. While Obama may have been cutting about Bidens feel for the electorate, people close to him suggest that Obama, like many other Democrats who are clear-eyed about Bidens weaknesses, has been surprised by his resilience. ... One person who is very close to both Obama and Biden said the only time the Biden campaign has been disappointed in Obama is over Trumps Ukraine scandal. I don't think anybody in the Biden world challenges Obamas affection for Biden, or challenges his strategy of not weighing in for anybody, this person said. I do think there's frustration when Joe Biden and Hunter Biden get attacked by Republicans on the Ukrainian thing and they say, Obama and his administration looked the other way back when this was happening, and Obama doesn't say anything. The Biden people ask, Why wont Obama say something?