President Obama: American People Want 'New Car Smell' in 2016 Campaign

President Obama: American People Want 'New Car Smell' in 2016 Campaign

Nov 23, 2014, 9:00 AM ET

By BEN BELL via This Week

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obama-american-people-car-smell-2016-campaign/story?id=27108324

President Obama, acknowledging he's taken some political "dings" during his time in the White House, said in an exclusive interview with ABC News that the American people will want that "new car smell" when it comes to the 2016 presidential campaign, suggesting he may not have a prominent role on the campaign trail as the country prepares to select his replacement.

I think the American people, you know, they're going to want -- you know, that new car smell. You know, their own -- they want to drive something off the lot that doesn't have as much mileage as me," Obama told ABC News Chief anchor George Stephanopoulos.

During the interview conducted in Las Vegas on Friday, Stephanopoulos asked the president how he would navigate a potential White House bid by his former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.

The president, who said he talks regularly with Clinton, called her a friend and seemed prepared for Clinton to differentiate herself politically should she choose to pursue the presidency, which appears likely.

"She's not going to agree with me on everything. And, you know, one of the benefits of running for president is you can stake out your own positions," Obama said.

Earlier in the conversation he'd said he thought she'd make a "formidable candidate" and a "great" president.

The president, who said there were "a number" of potential Democratic candidates who would make great presidents, said he would do everything he could to ensure that a member of his own party succeeded him.

"I am very interested in making sure that I've got a Democratic successor," he said. "So I'm going do everything I can, obviously, to make sure that whoever the nominee is is successful."

George Stephanopoulos

George Stephanopoulos was the chief Washington correspondent for the ABC News, William J. Clinton’s senior adviser, and is the anchor for This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

Note: Ian O. Cameron was an executive producer for This Week with George Stephanopoulos, is a senior producer for the World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, and married to Susan E. Rice.

World News Tonight with Peter Jennings was an ABC News program.

Susan E. Rice is married to Ian O. Cameron, the White House national security adviser for the

Barack Obama administration, was the former U.S. ambassador to UN for the Barack Obama administration, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Brian L. Greenspun is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the president & editor for the Las Vegas Sun, and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, is a co-chair, national finance council at Ready for Hillary, and is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.