You want a new car?

You’re a broke college kid, so, no doubt,  you can’t afford a new car. So what if you could get a new car for free by…voting in the next election?

According to President Obama, you can do just that.

In a wide-ranging interview aired Sunday on ABC’s This Week, the President said that

“I think the American people, you know, they’re going to want that new car smell. You know, they want to drive something off that lot that doesn’t have as much mileage as me.”

It seems that the President believes his two terms have taken some of the luster off of his brand: 

“When you’ve been president for six years, you know, you’ve got some dings.”

After the Democratic Party’s midterm drubbing, it’s not hard to see why the President feels this way. Facing Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, he is close to ‘lame duck’ territory–the portion of a president’s second term where his influence lags as people begin to look to the next presidential election.

Speaking about the next election, Obama reiterated his wish to see Democrats retain control of the White House:

“I am very interested in making sure that I’ve got a Democratic successor.”

Asked to speculate about Hillary Clinton’s seemingly inevitable presidential run:

“If she decides to run, I think she will be a formidable candidate and I think she’d be a great president.”

About helping Democrats win in 2016:

“I’m gonna do everything I can, obviously, to make sure that whoever the nominee is is successful.”

He’ll do everything he can except, of course, getting too close. He must be careful not to wipe the luster off the Democrats’ new 2016 ride.