Vice President Kamala Harris is currently the only serious candidate to be the new Democratic nominee following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race Sunday. A host of party bigwigs swung right in behind her, but there are still some extremely notable silences.
After announcing his own departure, Biden offered his “full support and endorsement” to Harris to succeed him at the top of the ticket in November. Other major Democratic players quickly followed suit but some of the biggest party figures—including former President Obama—are yet to do so.
One of the reasons Biden hesitated to abandon his own campaign was because he feared Harris “wasn’t up to taking on” Trump, according to an Axios report Monday. Axios continues, “his private anxieties reflect broader questions among some Democratic leaders about Harris as their nominee this November. This next week will be critical for Harris, 59, to prove doubters wrong as she moves quickly to try to clear the field of potential challengers for the Democratic nomination.”
As of early Monday, key figures including House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have not endorsed Harris. The same is true of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Obama even released a statement warning that Democrats will be “navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead” while expressing confidence “that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”
The former president’s non-endorsement, along with those of Jeffries, Schumer, and Pelosi, may stem from a desire to avoid being seen as “engineering a Harris coronation,” according to Politico, particularly given their reported roles in convincing Biden to call it quits.
One person familiar with Obama’s thinking specifically told the outlet that Obama “believes he will be uniquely positioned to help unite the party once we have a nominee, lift-up that candidate, and do everything he can to get that candidate elected in November.”
The full field of challengers Harris will face for the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month is not yet clear. Some lawmakers previously discussed as top contenders to potentially succeed Biden as the nominee have already taken themselves out of the running by endorsing Harris, however.
So far, Harris’ competition appears to be minimal. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin—who ditched his Democratic affiliation in May to become an Independent—was reported to be considering taking her on for the nomination (which would involve him first re-registering with the party), but he confirmed he would not run on Monday, telling CBS News he would nevertheless like a competitive “mini-primary” to take place to find the nominee.
Self-help guru Marianne Williamson, who suspended and then unsuspended her presidential campaign this year, said Sunday she looks forward to convincing Democratic delegates that she is “the best candidate to take us to victory in November.”
More candidates could come forward if they believe they have a better chance at beating Donald Trump in the fall.
But top of the Democrats’ party political agenda will be keeping further mayhem to a minimum in the months leading up to the election. Biden is the first presumptive nominee of a major party to drop out after the conclusion of the primaries, creating an unprecedented crisis for his colleagues to overcome.
Many, including every state Democratic party chair, immediately joined efforts to contain the chaos by quickly endorsing Harris. Donors also wasted no time opening their wallets to boost—Democratic donation processor ActBlue said small-dollar donors contributed $46.7 million through the platform as of 9 p.m. Sunday, hailing the “biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle.”
So even though it’s looking like the nomination will be Harris’ to lose at the moment, it’s not yet certain—something which Harris acknowledged herself Sunday. In a statement saying she is “honored” to have Biden’s endorsement, Harris added that her intention is to “earn and win this nomination.”
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