Hillary Clinton Walks the Line Between Presidential Ally and Aspirant

WASHINGTON — If there was one moment recently in which President Obama could have used Hillary Rodham Clinton’s help, it was on Sunday, as the president scrambled to salvage his trade deal, which had been halted by congressional Democrats.

Instead, Mrs. Clinton, now running to replace Mr. Obama, all but wagged a finger at her former boss. Though she had once hailed the agreement as the gold standard for “free, transparent, fair trade,” she bluntly suggested that the president should “listen to and work with” Democrats to improve the deal and ensure better protections for American workers.

If that cannot be done, Mrs. Clinton said, “there should be no deal.”

Her comments irked some White House aides, who were still stung by the setback on Capitol Hill and frustrated that Mrs. Clinton, who once championed the president’s trade agenda, was now distancing herself from it. Over the weekend, one report on CNN documented the 45 times when Mrs. Clinton had expressed robust support for the trade pact, which the president is eager to see passed as part of his foreign policy legacy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/18/us/politics/hillary-clinton-walks-the-line-between-presidential-ally-and-aspirant.html?_r=0