The twenty-second amendment limits presidents to two terms. No elected Commander-In-Chief candidate can serve in the White House for more than eight years. This law was created to prevent abuse of power that inevitably results when one man holds the reins for too long. It’s human nature. Power corrupts.
Based on this we should rightly assume that we had seen the last of Barack Obama….but this may not be so. Joe Biden, the clear front runner for the democrat presidential nomination, is today expected to announce his choice of running mate for the presidential election in November of next year, and his choice is no other than former President Barack Obama.
This is acceptable under the law as Obama would be running under the Vice-President banner, not the main role. It’s a loophole that was unforeseen by those who created the term limit. If something were to happen to Biden, making him unable to serve in his role as president, Obama would indeed be allowed to step into the role. The language of the law clearly states that one cannot exceed two terms by election but no mention is made of a situation of appointment as mentioned above.
Biden made no apologies for his choice:
“Who else would I choose? Barack and I were the greatest team this country has ever seen! We were Batman & Robin, Kirk and Spock, Han Solo and Chewbacca! We were like rock stars, man! Everyone in the world loved us!
I miss those days. And now I have an opportunity to bring them back so I will.”
Such a move has never been attempted before in this country and may not sit well with the public. It’s expected that voters will see this for what it is – a gross manipulation of the spirit of the law – and turn away from the Biden/Obama ticket.
