The bricks, as the saying goes, are falling in. The wall in question is the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, and the latest brick to fall in is Barack Obama, who is now endorsing the vice president in her presidential ambitions.
Former President Barack Obama plans to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, according to two people familiar with his plans.
That endorsement could come as soon as Thursday, according to one of the people granted anonymity to speak about an endorsement that is not yet public.
Obama, the first Black president, remains one of the most popular figures in the Democratic party even though more than a decade has passed since he was last elected. He lent his support to Biden during fundraisers, which were among some of the biggest blockbuster events of his campaign. He’s also a draw during campaign events.
This could have a significant effect on the race.
Barack Obama’s final presidential approval rating is at 59 percent, with other Democrat presidents Bill Clinton coming in at 66 percent and Jimmy Carter at 34 percent. He’s a Democratic Party icon whose word still carries a lot of weight — among Democrats. While he famously said about Joe Biden that there’s “…nothing that Joe can’t f**k up,” he nevertheless ascribes to Democrat solidarity — and that’s something that Democrats have traditionally done very well. They stick together.
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Report: Leak Reveals More About Why Obama Hasn’t Endorsed Harris
Obama will, reportedly, make his endorsement official as soon as Thursday.
…the wait before endorsing was intentional. A person familiar with Obama’s thinking said he didn’t want to put his thumb on the scale as the party worked through the process of determining its nominee.
“He believed it was important for the party to have a legitimate process where delegates select our new nominee, and he thinks VP Harris has been off to an impressive start,” the person said.
Now that Harris is clearly on the glide path to the nomination, Obama plans to offer his backing to the freshly minted Democratic candidate.
Obama withheld his endorsement during the 2020 primary, even though his own vice president was in the running, because he saw himself as an elder statesman who should let the party organically choose its future.
It’s unclear how smooth that glide path to the nomination will be, as the Democratic Party has already shown themselves to be willing to bring out the long knives for a candidate whose polling is on a path to a landslide win — for Republicans. If Kamala Harris starts showing a similar slide in the polling, the Democratic National Convention in August could become very spicy indeed.
And we should remember that Her Imperial Majesty Hillary I will be watching intently for any such polling slide.
But there should be no illusions about how much influence Barack Obama still wields in Democratic Party circles. This endorsement has the potential to bring in remaining Democrat holdouts and finalize the solidification of that party behind the vice president. What’s less clear is how much difference this endorsement will make to independents and moderates who will decide the battleground state elections and, in so doing, determine the final Electoral College results.
