Spotlight: Obama not "feeling the Bern"

After a rare meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in January, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, though still stern-looking, said he believed Obama had been and would continue to be "evenhanded," not tipping the scales toward any Democratic presidential candidates.

While Obama continued his public display of impartiality, he, privately, appeared to have for long already chosen the side.

During his last week's private meeting with Democratic National Committee donors in Austin, Texas, Obama reportedly urged donors against supporting Sanders for the party's nomination.

According to The New York Times, Obama said in unusually candid remarks on March 11 that Sanders' campaign against Clinton was near its end and that the Democratic Party must soon rally around his former secretary of state.

Obama's remarks against Sanders came three days after Sanders' unexpected and potentially turning-point upset over Clinton in the midwest state of Michigan, a victory the Sanders campaign desperately needed to justify the candidate's stay in the race despite Clinton's formidable lead in delegate count.

Bernie's campaign has a popular slogan -- "Feel the Bern" -- which has been printed on T-shirts, badges, magnets and key rings. His supporters even have an anthem to help them "feel the Bern."

Though Obama did not explicitly call on Sanders to bow out of the race, his tone sounded urgent, the Times reported, quoting sources present at the private meeting.

The Times also reported that Obama acknowledged that many Democrats were not "excited" about Clinton's candidacy and Clinton lacked the "authenticity" of Sanders.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest, also present at the fundraiser when the conversation happened last week in Austin, did not deny the story.

"What I'll just say in general is that President Obama made the case that would be familiar to all of you, which is that as Democrats through this competitive primary process, we need to be mindful of the fact that our success in November in electing a Democratic president will depend on the commitment and ability of the Democratic Party to come together behind our nominee, and the president did not indicate or specify a preference in the race," Earnest said on Thursday ata a daily briefing.

"In fact, the president pointed out something that he's pointed out to all of you, which is that both of the Democrats who are running, because they have demonstrated an understanding and a commitment to building on the progress that we've made thus far, will be far better presidents than anybody that's been put up on the Republican side," Earnest added.

Obama's private remarks echoed those he uttered in a previous interview with the U.S. daily Politico early this year, in which Obama showered praise on his former secretary of state and appeared to take a jab at Sanders.

"She (Clinton) can govern, and she can start here, day one, more experienced than any non-vice president has ever been who aspires to this office," said Obama, a remark widely interpreted by observers as a tacit endorsement of Clinton.

For Sanders, Obama said in that interview that Sanders had enjoyed the "luxury of being a complete long shot," a benefit that had spared him of intense scrutiny.

During his career in politics, Sanders had been a vocal critic of the Obama administration's failure to detail any plans to rein in Wall Street.

Shortly after the United States reached the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal with 11 other countries in the Pacific Rim under the auspices of Obama last October, Sanders bashed the trade agreement as "disastrous."

Also, unlike Clinton and her team staff, who had regular contact with Obama and his White House aides, the last time for Sanders to pay a solo visit to Obama in the Oval Office was on Dec. 15, 2014. Endit