Former President Barack Obama will eventually endorse his former vice president, Joe Biden, in the 2020 presidential race, and the liberal media will undoubtedly fawn all over themselves. This is an inevitable fact, but it’s one that President Trump can turn his way quickly.
Now that Biden is the sole remaining candidate in the Democratic primary, he doesn’t need an Obama endorsement to seal the deal. So, they will likely make the announcement in a spectacular fashion closer to the Democratic National Convention, thus guaranteeing weeks of coverage rather than getting lost amid coronavirus news.
CNN will gossip for weeks that the “game-changing endorsement” is imminent. MSNBC will hype the announcement, treating it like the Second Coming.
Then, when it finally comes, sycophants on the networks will say they missed the “professor in chief” tone from the former president. New York Times columnists will opine that if we miss the adult in the White House that we supposedly had in Obama, we must vote for Biden. More fawning commentary will follow from Salon, the Atlantic, and elsewhere.
Obama’s team knows how to play the liberal media almost as well as Trump does. This announcement will be well-orchestrated and targeted at independent voters. Conservatives shouldn’t underestimate the charisma and power the former president still wields.
So, Trump’s 2020 campaign needs to get out in front of it before momentum moves to coverage of the endorsement. They can do this effectively by asking a simple question over and over again: Why isn’t Obama endorsing Biden? Sow the seeds of doubt now. Do it often. Do it wherever and whenever you can.
It doesn’t matter that the endorsement is inevitable. It’s about getting people to wonder why Obama waited so long. Biden was an exceptionally weak front-runner, and he could have used Obama’s influence earlier so the Democratic Party could coalesce behind a candidate to take on Trump.
The Trump campaign should lean in to the speculation (though it’s probably true) that Obama didn’t think Biden had what it takes, and he didn’t want to waste an endorsement on a candidate who can barely remember his own positions. Now, Obama is settling. He has to.
And as the anticipation builds for the big Obama endorsement, Trump and his staff should make sure that everyone wonders why it took so long. This will blunt some of the excitement, because there’s not much passion behind settling. And make no mistake, Obama is settling.
At best, the speculation won’t just temper excitement but could force Biden to make the endorsement announcement a bit sooner than planned. At worst, it reminds people the endorsement is coming, which cuts down on the excitement. No one likes a spoiler.
Jason Rantz (@jasonrantz) is a Seattle-based talk show host on KTTH 770 AM and recurring guest on Fox News.
