Barack Obama's high approval rating makes him a fearsome weapon for Hillary Clinton

With the president's approval rating hitting a new second-term high, he is likely to be a major part of her campaign against Donald Trump

Few people in the hall knew that Ms Clinton was to appear (AP)

There are few outgoing US presidents who can claim an approval rating that is close to their age.

But as Barack Obama celebrated his 55th birthday, he, his party and the woman he has endorsed as his successor, were celebrating another figure - an approval rating of 54 per cent.

A poll by CNN/ORC put Mr Obama’s rating at its highest level for four years and elevates him to a rare group of modern presidents. Perhaps more importantly, it underscores the fact that Hillary Clinton will be turning to him, frequently, to help win the support she needs to make it to the White House.

“I think that this is unprecedented at this point. We have never really had modern presidents with these ratings - only Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan,” Jeanne Zaino, Professor of Political Science at Iona College in New York, told The Independent.

“Barack Obama has this support among the groups of people she needs and he is happy to help her.”

At the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last week, Mr Obama delivered a powerful speech in which he urged voters to support Ms Clinton. The pair then surprised the convention hall, when she appeared on stage to join at the end of his speech, and they hugged and smiled.

“Tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me,” Mr Obama asked the crowd. “I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me.”

Ms Zaino said that while Mr Clinton and Mr Reagan also left office with high approval ratings, their anointed successors used them little in their own election campaigns. George HW Bush appeared at few campaign events with Mr Reagan, and Al Gore effectively banned Mr Clinton from campaigning for him, a decision that ultimately proved to be a fatal mistake. Mr Gore was beaten by George W Bush, George HW Bush’s son.

By contrast, Mr Obama has indicated he was ready to campaign for Ms Clinton, to directly challenge her rival, Donald Trump, and to try and bring out voters for a someone he hopes will be his ideological successor and the inheritor of his two-term legacy.


 Mr Obama said he knew he was leaving the party in safe hands 
 (AP)

The poll - which noted Mr Obama’s approval rating was at its highest than at any time during his second term - also found that 94 per cent of voters who approve of the president also backed Ms Clinton in a head-to-head matchup with Mr Trump. Eighty-five percent of those who disapproved of Mr Obama backed Mr Trump.

Sixty-four per cent said if Ms Clinton were elected, she would mostly carry out Mr Obama’s policies, while 33 per cent said her policies would mostly be different than his.

An average of national polls collated by Real Clear Politics places Ms Clinton four points ahead of Mr Trump, both of whom had been their number spike following their party conventions.

Yet Ms Clinton’s primary campaign failed to generate the excitement and frenzy of her rival, Bernie Sanders, and the convention revealed that many of his supporters are still unwilling to vote for her. Ms Zaino said that was one group of voters - those who considered themselves very progressive - that Mr Obama may not be able to bring to Ms Clinton’s camp.

Otherwise, she said, the combination of Mr Clinton political and tactical acumen, matched with Mr Obama’s charisma and oratorical powers, were a tough prospect to beat.

“It was Bill Clinton who, at the convention, helped put Mr Obama over in 2012,” she said. “This is what Barack Obama is doing for her right now.”