After months of silence, former President Barack Obama is reportedly set to endorse his past running mate, Joe Biden, for president. But Obama’s endorsement won’t mean much, and it likely won’t help Biden, either.
Obama’s endorsement is supposed to unify the Democratic Party — that’s why he’s waited so long to support a specific candidate. He wanted to throw his weight behind the voters’ choice, so as to prevent further division from spreading within the party’s ranks. But there’s very little left to unify. The voters who could have been swayed by Obama a few months ago have no problem voting for Biden now.
The voters who still need to be convinced, the far-left Bernie Sanders supporters, will not be convinced by Obama or his charisma. Even the Vermont senator has been unable to sway some of his supporters, including his own press secretary! So, there’s little chance that Obama, whose ideology and policies align with Biden’s, would be more influential.
Besides, Obama’s past endorsements haven’t been worth much. It’s not that Obama isn’t popular. Quite the opposite, actually. But he’s never been able to generate the same kind of enthusiasm for other Democratic candidates that he’s earned for himself. Indeed, one look at his track record suggests his endorsements might have actually hurt these candidates.
Throughout his tenure, Democrats lost dozens of congressional seats, control of both congressional chambers, and 10 governorships despite Obama’s attempts to energize his base. As the Dispatch’s Jonah Goldberg said back in 2010, “I don’t know that he’s the kiss of death. But at best, he’s sort of like a kiss from your sister. It’s really all not that much fun, and it invites awkward questions.”
In 2010, Obama campaigned and endorsed several high-profile congressional Democrats, some of whom included Jon Corzine, Creigh Deeds, Martha Coakley, and Arlen Specter. Each of these candidates lost. In 2014, he tried again and campaigned for nine Democratic candidates. Five of them lost. And let’s not forget the 2016 election when he campaigned hard for Hillary Clinton, whose own unpopularity probably hurt Obama more than his endorsement helped her.
Obama’s endorsement could have been significant had he not waited. But he did wait, and now his stamp of approval is little more than an inevitability.
