Biden hopes for Obama's endorsement ahead of Super Tuesday
Former VP touts South Carolina primary victory; Fox News contributor Richard Fowler reacts.
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory in South Carolina marked a huge and much-needed turning point for his struggling campaign — and it led to a windfall of endorsements, including from Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg after they bowed out ahead of Super Tuesday.
But as many establishment names place their bets on Biden, one towering figure remains on the sidelines: his ex-running mate, former President Barack Obama. This, as Biden only doubles down on the narrative that his candidacy represents a continuation of the Obama legacy.
Whether Obama would reverse course to endorse in the primary is far from clear.
BIDEN SAYS HE DOESN'T NEED AN OBAMA ENDORSEMENT AMID REPORTED CRITICISM
Some analysts argue it might even lead to a backlash at this stage.
“He runs the risk, endorsing early, of ruffling the feathers of supporters of those he doesn’t endorse,” Mo Elleithee, a former spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and now-Fox News contributor, told Fox News. “Rather than putting his thumb on the scale now, there is going to be a need for his help in unifying the party after the convention, and he’s probably better positioned to do that than anyone else.”
Elleithee told Fox News that unifying the Democratic Party is “one of the most important roles” for Obama to play this cycle, but warned that if the primary becomes “more tense or more fractured,” party elders will need “to do some work to smooth that over.”
Yet Biden already is winning the sudden support of party elders and power-brokers as they apparently see him as the most viable choice to take on surging Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and prevent him from running away with the nomination.
Figures ranging from former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe to Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., have come out for Biden — along with Klobuchar, Buttigieg and former presidential candidate and Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke.
Elleithee acknowledged Obama will ultimately play an important role in unifying the party but said “it’s easier to do that if he has not involved himself in the primary.”
He questioned whether an Obama endorsement would be a make-or-break moment but added: “If he were to endorse, I think it would be a boost for whoever he endorsed.”
Meanwhile, a source close to Obama reportedly told CNN that they, too, were “skeptical” that an Obama endorsement at this point could “change the political winds right now,” warning that there is “a very real chance it backfires.”
“If he were to try to put his thumb on the scale now, it would take away his ability to do so when it’s most needed — the general election,” the source told CNN. “Weighing in now likely only divides things worse and weakens his standing for when the party will need it most.”
But Obama's absence is striking and coincides with reports that the 44th president has had doubts about his longtime political partner.
“And you know who really doesn’t have it? Joe Biden,” Obama once said, referring to a bond with voters, Politico Magazine reported.
Before the race started, Obama reportedly told Biden he didn’t have to run for president.
“You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t,” Obama reportedly said, according to The New York Times.
Biden was asked in December whether he would want Obama's endorsement as the race narrowed. “No, because everyone knows I’m close with him,” Biden said, according to Politico. “I don’t need an Obama endorsement.”
Regardless of what happens, it is noteworthy that Obama placed a call to Biden to congratulate him on his South Carolina primary win on Saturday, as Fox News has confirmed. It is unclear whether the former president did the same for Sanders after his victory in New Hampshire, or his massive victory in last month’s Nevada caucuses.
Biden, throughout his campaign, has latched himself to the Obama legacy, even saying during his victory speech Saturday that “Democrats want a nominee who’s a Democrat, a proud Democrat, an Obama-Biden Democrat.”
Biden has also called out Sanders after reports surfaced last month that he considered mounting a primary bid against Obama in 2012. Then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reportedly intervened to stop him.
“I was proud to run with Barack Obama,” Biden continued. “I’m proud to still be his friend and, I tell you what, I promise you I wasn’t talking about running a Democratic primary against him in 2012.”
It is unlikely that Obama would endorse Sanders, according to a report in November that claimed that the former president once stated privately he would speak out against Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, if he appeared to be pulling ahead of the pack.
An Obama spokesperson, however, reportedly noted that Obama has stated that he would get behind the Democratic nominee no matter who it is.
Meanwhile, Sanders has said he is “extremely confident” he could have the support of Obama.
“I’m not going to tell you that he and I are best friends, but we are friends,” Sanders told CNN last month. “I have talked to him on and off for the last many years, was sitting down alone with him in the Oval Office on more than one occasion, I have talked to him on the telephone every now and then.”
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