Aligning herself too closely with Mr. Obama is fraught with risk for Mrs. Clinton. Asked to imagine their “perfect candidate,” nearly six in 10 Americans said they wanted someone who would change most of Mr. Obama’s policies, according to a CNN poll released last month. And Republicans are betting that attacks based on the incumbent’s record will be as effective against Mrs. Clinton as the tactic was in 2008, when Democrats equated a victory by Senator John McCain to four more years of President George W. Bush.

“That’s the anchor she’ll be dragging for the next couple of years,” said Stuart Stevens, who was a top strategist for Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee…

Yet Mrs. Clinton and her team have decided that, on balance, the risk of lining up near Mr. Obama’s record is worth taking.

Rather than run from Mr. Obama, she intends to turn to him as one of her campaign’s most important allies and advocates — second only, perhaps, to her husband, the other president whose record will hover over her bid.