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Obama said. Obama even joked at one point that his administration may have been able to achieve more if it were legal to offer patronage, noting a this-for-that strategy was essential in passing some of America’s most historic legislation. See the Fox News 2016 battleground prediction map and make your own election projections. See Predictions Map Yeah, because then it was transactional, then it was ‘I’d like this, I need that,’ and one of the things that’s changed from the [Lyndon] Johnson era obviously is I don’t have a postmaster job. Shoot, not just Johnson’s age — [Abraham] Lincoln’s age. Good-government reforms have hamstrung an administration, which I think is for the most part for the best. Obama did not spend much time speaking about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign. But he traced the billionaire's political rise back to Sarah Palin’s selection as Sen. John McCain’s presidential running mate in 2008.