Barack and Michelle Obama today endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's nominee for president.
Former President Obama and ex-First Lady Michelle Obama said in a joint statement that they believe Ms Harris has the "vision, the character, and the strength that this critical moment demands". Mr Obama was reportedly among more than 100 prominent Democrats Ms Harris spoke to after President Joe Biden announced last Sunday he was dropping out of the race.In a statement at the time, Mr Obama praised Mr Biden's exit, but stopped short of endorsing Ms Harris.
Why did they wait? Barack was one of those reportedly pushing for President Biden to decline the nomination, but did not expect him to endorse Harris when doing so. The insinuation is that top Dems had ambiguious plans to anoint a well-trained centrist of some kind instead, though there isn't any evidence for this beyond anonymously-sourced insider gossip. The same media and party "elites" now expect one of the same figures—Mark Kelly, Josh Shapiro, etc—to end up her running mate.
