PHILADELPHIA _ As President Barack Obama prepares to address the Democratic National Convention, he seems to be putting the party on notice: Donald Trump can win.
"Anything is possible," Obama told NBC's Savannah Guthrie in an interview to air Wednesday. "It is the nature of democracy that until those votes are cast and the American people _ you know, have their say _ we don't know."
It's a different message than one Obama has been delivering with some consistency this year.
Asked about Trump's candidacy in February, for instance, just as the first votes were being cast in the nomination fights, Obama insisted Trump would never come close to the Oval Office.
"I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be president," he said at a news conference from the Sunnylands retreat. "And the reason is because I have a lot of faith in the American people, and I think they recognize that being president is a serious job. It's not hosting a talk show or a reality show. It's not promotion. It's not marketing."
So what's changed in five months?
"You know, as somebody who has now been in elected office _ at various levels for about 20 years, I've seen all kinds of crazy stuff happen," Obama told Guthrie this week. "I think anybody who goes into campaigns not running scared can end up losing."
