NBC: Obama Finally Warming Up An Endorsement? UPDATED

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

What's he waiting for? Labor Day? Or the deadline that the DNC quietly set yesterday for any other competitors?

When Joe Biden tweeted his withdrawal from the Democrat presidential nomination on Sunday and (almost) immediately endorsed Kamala Harris, party leaders rushed to add their support. Even the Dump Biden leaders who had been demanding an "open process" to replace Biden -- Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer -- were on board with The Anointment within 24 hours. The Clintons climbed aboard the Kamacela around the same time.

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Notably absent -- the man who picked Joe Biden as his own running mate. After a couple of days of head-scratching by observers, NBC News reports that Barack Obama will finally ready an endorsement ... "soon"?

Former President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris have been in close touch since she announced her presidential candidacy Sunday, having multiple conversations this week as she kicks off her campaign, according to four people familiar with their discussions.

Obama privately has fully supported Harris’ candidacy and plans to endorse her soon, these people said.

"He has been in regular contact with her and thinks she's been off to a great start," one of them said.

Obama is one of the only high-profile Democrats in the country who has yet to endorse Harris. While other party leaders have stepped forward to publicly back her, he has so far kept his support private.

What's the point of playing coy? It can't be to protect Biden's dignity by withholding an endorsement until after his Oval Office address last night. Obama had joined forces with other Dump Biden activists in an attempt to publicly push Biden into withdrawing from the nomination. His fingerprints were so visible that Biden's campaign openly tore into Obama for pushing Biden out in 2016 and helping to get Trump elected. Dignity in this process died shortly after the June 27 debate.

Besides, Biden himself was the first to endorse Harris, on Sunday afternoon via Twitter/X. He called into Harris' visit to campaign HQ the next day in an awkward show of support as well. That allowed everyone else to line up quickly behind Harris and attempt to shut down the chaos that the Dump Biden movement and the debate exposure of the years-long cover-up of Biden's senility created. 

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And it can't be for Obama to wait for a moment for the dramatic reveal. He's the only significant Democrat left to offer a public endorsement. Even the Protection Racket Media has gone into full Winston Smith Mode on Harris' behalf, erasing their own records of her status as border czar and declaring all criticisms of The Anointed One to be racist/sexist/ageist/ableist/transphobic/whateverist. He could have held a presser on Tuesday and still would have made himself The Final Word. 

So what's taking so long? Especially if Obama has "fully supported" Harris' candidacy in private? Obama wanted Biden to withdraw; Biden withdrew. The likeliest outcome of that was always going to be Harris as the nominee without an open convention, or an "open process." None of this makes much sense politically, unless Obama wants to wait to see if anyone else forces a competition for the nomination. 

Thus we get back to the three-day window the DNC created, starting today, for any new entrants into the nomination contest. One has to wonder whether Obama sees the trap that Democrats have set for themselves by anointing a San Francisco Democrat with no real accomplishments and a track record of media incompetence as the nominee without considering better options. And if that's the case, the definition of "soon" may well be Saturday 6 pm ET, when that window for buyer's remorse officially closes at the DNC.

Update: Consider the sourcing, as it's unclear what reliable sources "close to the Biden family" the New York Post would actually have. But at least this makes some sense:

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Former President Barack Obama hasn’t endorsed Kamala Harris’ presidential bid because he doesn’t think she can beat Donald Trump, according to a source close to the Biden family. ...

“Obama’s very upset because he knows she can’t win,” the Biden family source told The Post.

“Obama knows she’s just incompetent — the border czar who never visited the border, saying that all migrants should have health insurance. She cannot navigate the landmines that are ahead of her.”

Is this accurate? The assessment likely is, but is that what Obama sees and why he's taking so long to issue his own endorsement? Stay tuned. 

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | September 06, 2024
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