Obama squirms about that Biden endorsement
Now that the Democratic Party has all but consolidated behind decrepit Joe Biden to keep unelectable socialist Bernie Sanders off the top of its ticket, it's worth a snicker to consider President Obama, behind the scenes, suddenly realizing he's going to have to endorse idiot Joe Biden for president, a man he considers unfit for the office.
Obama had withheld his endorsement for his faithful former vice president, which was pretty humiliating for Joe, a man Joe had touted as his "best friend" to the NAACP. Biden claimed he asked for no endorsement, which no one believed. Obama claimed he was waiting till after primaries. The real reason leaked out, though: that Obama doesn't think Biden is up to the job.
According to last August 17's New York Post:
"You don't have to do this, Joe, you really don't," the former president told Biden before the front-runner entered the race, insiders told the New York Times.
Biden has repeatedly cited his relationship with his old boss as he touts his credentials on the campaign trail — but Obama has asked Biden staffers to make sure the gaffe-prone veep does not "damage his legacy" or "embarrass himself" during his run.
They have been unable to prevent him from making verbal blunders, like his claim last week that "poor kids are just as bright … as white kids" and his insistence that there are "at least three" genders.
The former president has told insiders of his worries that Biden's top aides are "too old and out of touch with the current political climate."
Worse still, Obama said this to Democratic leaders last November and word got out: "You know who really doesn't have it? Joe Biden."
Now it's endorsement time, tiger, so buckle up.
Obama is still squirming, delivering a congratulations but no endorsement. The last reported news of his doings comes from Pete Buttigieg, who says Obama called him up during the dropout consolidation and told him to "use the leverage you amassed."
Two things might be going on here.
One, Obama hasn't endorsed Biden because he still thinks Joe isn't up to the job and wants to keep his hands off the whole matter until he has to. Maybe he's waiting for the convention in order to make a grand appearance for the endorsement — knowing Obama's ego, that's pretty likely.
The importance of an endorsement for Biden is reinforced by the fact that Rep. James Clyburn's endorsement handed the South Carolina primary to Joe in a dramatic turnaround for the otherwise washed up gaffemaster, paving the way to his Super Tuesday wins. If Clyburn's endorsement could do that for Joe, think what an Obama endorsement could do for Joe. But he won't give it.
Two, despite his contempt for incompetent Joe, Obama might just be behind the consolidation behind the scenes, given his pen-and-phone stuff with the assorted Democratic candidates such as Buttigieg, someone he had a soft spot for early on (along with Beto O'Rourke). Despite his distaste for Joe, Obama realizes that Joe might just be the best hope for preserving his legacy, something that's always foremost in his mind. He hates Sanders and knows that Sanders would blow up his legacy far more decisively than Trump, turning America into the shambles of Venezuela, a vast 5,000-mile blue city full of corruption, unemployment, homeless blight, opioid addiction, rigged elections, illegals, high rents, high costs, collapsing markets, shriveling 401(k)s, greenie oppression, men-only sports prizes, state bankruptcy, zero oil, and crime.
Biden, though, is malleable, easily manipulated, desperate for love, a political hack of no principles — and easy to lead by the nose. Just as Obama told Pete, to exert "leverage" on Biden, Obama knows he can get anything he wants from Biden for that slavered-after Obama endorsement. This makes Biden the perfect puppet. It's said that someone's pulling Biden's puppet strings. Obama's as good a guess as any for who the puppetmaster is.
A third theory is that Obama and his minions never wanted to leave power; they felt entitled to it, the minions, at least, and Biden might just be the best actual front man for making Obama the power behind the throne. It's doubtful that Obama, occupied as he is with golf and billionaire-paid vacays, and as lazy as he is, really wants to do the governing. But his minions certainly don't like being on the outs. This picture, remember, told us everything. These Obama minions are so desperate to cling to power they launched a coup attempt against President Trump through the use of Obama holdovers and the Deep State. Some, such as the political appointees at Voice of America, one such agency, still refuse to leave office. Others have found their way into the FISA courts, the leaky press, and the offices of Adam Schiff. It may well be that professional power behind the throne Valerie Jarrett is plotting her comeback.
But it all comes down to the significant hurdle of having to endorse Joe Biden, something that must make Obama gag. Instead of get it over with, he's exerting leverage for sure. But if and when he does, we all know it will be a joke: word's already out about what Obama really thinks of Biden in private.
Image credit: Obama Library, National Archives, public domain.