Kamala Harris might become the 47th president of the United
States, but the 44th hasn't pledged to support for the
likely Democratic nominee.
Journalists and politicians have been wondering what to make of
this historic snub.
President Joe Biden made an unprecedented decision on July 21st,
2024.
He dropped out of his re election campaign.
A handful of other presidents have refused a second elected
term, but the last to do so is Lyndon B
Johnson all the way back in 1968.
Something like this has never happened so close to the
election before, as Biden made his announcement less than four
months before polls close on November 5th.
With the Democratic National Convention taking place in mid August,
the party has to lock in a choice and fast.
Just minutes after telling the world that he would not
seek reelection, Biden endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris to
be the Democratic parties presidential nominee in his place.
The decision was praised by many Democrats who also pledged
their support for the former senator.
I'm watching you kids.
I love you, I love you.
However, another Democratic power player has been less enthusiastic about
the choice, former President Barack Obama.
In his first statement since the announcement, Obama didn't mention
Harris at all.
Instead, he wrote in part.
We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead,
but I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our
party will be able to create a process from which
an outstanding nominee emerges.
Obama's silence has drawn attention from plenty of pundits.
Steven Nelson, a Washington correspondent for the New York Post,
speculated that as a respected leader among Democrats, Obama could
hurt Harris's presidential ambitions.
As he wrote, his lack of an endorsement of Harris
could damage her candidacy and implicitly encourage new candidates to
emerge.
However, those in Obama's inner circle don't seem to think
that he's trying to tip the scales in any major
way.
According to the Seattle Times, people close to Obama said
not to read too much into it and had no
alternate candidate in mind when he made the decision not
to immediately endorse Harris.
On social media, some highlighted Obama's decision to not name
Harris in a statement, instead using the word nominee the
44th president wrote.
For Joe Biden to look at the political landscape and
decide that he should pass the torch to a new
nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life.
Others have suggested that Obama made a strategic choice to
hold out so he could swoop in with his endorsement
if there ended up being a contested convention, a source
familiar with Obama's thinking told MSNBC.
Similarly, saying just like he did in 2020 once Joe
Biden earned the nomination, President Obama believes he will be
uniquely positioned to help unite the party.
Once we have a nominee, lift up that candidate and
do everything he can to get that candidate elected in
November.
The source noted that though Obama said supportive things about
Biden during his 2020 presidential campaign, he didn't officially endorse
him until after Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the
race.
In a piece for The New York Times, journalist and
former White House correspondent Glenn Thrush revealed Mr.
Biden is a deeply prideful man and he has never
fully forgiven Mr.
Obama for quietly backing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
in the 2016 campaign.
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Get on, get Uncle Joe to vote.
According to the reporter, a former White House official who
speaks with Obama regularly said that the former president wanted
a spotlight to be on the current president, saying Mr.
Obama wanted Sunday to be about Mr.
Biden, a celebration of his accomplishments, and does not feel
pressured to act hastily in the wake of Biden's announcement.
Harris has so far received the support of Bill and
Hillary Clinton, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Jim Clyburn, California Governor
Gavin Newsom, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and others.
But as Politico noted, some Democrats competing in races in
battleground states across the country have remained quiet on the
issue.
The outlet concluded one group clearly unwilling to immediately signal
support for Harris are the nearly 30 Democratic candidates designated
as top tier challengers by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
A House Democrat incumbent told the outlet that voter sentiment
about Harris this isn't great, pointing out in the primary
four years ago, she didn't last very long.
That said, it doesn't seem like there will be a
contested convention after all.
Less than 48 hours after Harris became a presidential contender
once again, a survey from The Associated Press revealed that
she had the support of enough delegates needed to secure
the nomination.
Whether or not Obama and the battleground Democrats endorse her
in the near future, it looks like Harris will be
the next Democratic nominee for president of the United States.