VP Kamala Harris inherited President Biden’s campaign apparatus, but I’m still so impressed by how quickly and flawlessly she and her presidential campaign have hit the ground running. She’s still doing the work as the vice president, but she immediately kicked into high gear as the candidate and presumptive nominee. On Thursday, VP Harris released her first television ad, which is amazing. Then on Friday, her campaign released a video endorsement from Barack and Michelle Obama. Just five days ago, Barack Obama was endorsing a half-assed mini-primary and open convention. Just last week, he was sitting back and not pitching in to soothe jumpy Democratic donors and he was also not offering counsel or support to President Biden. There’s been some quiet backlash to Barack Obama’s moves, that’s all I’ll say. But the Harris campaign put a f–king bow on it and they must have said “no thanks” to another f–king Medium essay. The campaign was like “nah, we need to do some kind of video.”
Because I love a process story, I would absolutely love to know how this was negotiated, because we don’t even see the Obamas on camera. I want to know what the Harris campaign people said and what the Obamas’ original pitch was. I swear, it probably was another f–king Medium essay. In any case, the Harris campaign said that this call happened on Wednesday, while Harris was in Indianapolis. The big endorsement:
“We called to say, Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Mr. Obama said.
Ms. Harris replied: “Thank you both! It means so much. And, and we’re going to have some fun with this, too, aren’t we?”
The Obamas issued a statement saying they would “do everything we can to elect Kamala Harris the next president of the United States.” They added, “And we hope you’ll join us.”
All of the Obama people swore up and down that he would never, ever endorse Kamala Harris before the convention, that his public reticence towards VP Harris was standard operating procedure. What changed? Was it the days and weeks of criticism? It feels like it. It also feels like the Clintons were getting such high marks for being good and loyal Democrats, and people really appreciated Hillary Clinton’s full-throated support for Harris right out of the gate. Anyway, I’m glad the Obamas made the endorsement and let’s keep it moving. We’re not going back.
Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend @KamalaHarris. We told her we think she’ll make a fantastic President of the United States, and that she has our full support. At this critical moment for our country, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in… pic.twitter.com/0UIS0doIbA
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 26, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.