Obama utiliza las ventajas de su cargo en la campaña

The New York Times nos cuenta cómo un Presidente en ejercicio puede utilizar las decisiones ejecutivas para mejorar su posición en un estado o con un sector concreto del electorado:

For months, government lawyers and economists worked behind the scenes to develop a trade case against China. Then last month came a eureka moment: They confirmed the existence of a Chinese subsidy program for automobiles and parts that in their view violated international trade rules. They finished a complaint, circulated it among agencies and proposed a time frame for filing.

That’s when President Obama’s political team took over, providing a textbook example of how an incumbent can harness the power of the office to bolster the case for re-election. Rather than leave it to the trade office to announce the complaint, Mr. Obama decided to do it himself. Aides scheduled it for a campaign swing to the auto-dependent battleground state of Ohio, leaked it to the state’s largest newspaper, then sent other journalists a link to the resulting story plus voter-friendly talking points.

Historia completa, aquí.

Esta es una de las razones por las que los favoritos no suelen tener las narices de presentarse a las elecciones cuando un Presidente busca la reelección (Mitch Daniels o Chris Christie este año, Hillary Clinton o Al Gore en 2004, Jack Kemp o Dan Quayle en el 96, Cuomo o Gore en el 92, Ted Kennedy en el 84, Gerald Ford en el 80, etc.)