Barack Obama should either go public with his endorsement and stop attacking Bernie Sanders on the sly
With the 2020 presidential elections just months away, former President Barack Obama has not yet publicly announced which Democratic candidate is he endorsing for the White House run. Over the past three months, multiple reports of Obama's "private conversations" have been making news, where he has been reportedly disapproving of certain candidates while "secretly" touting another to wealthy donors.
The former president, last year, had said that he would not intervene in the primary elections by endorsing a particular candidate in the 2020 race. Thereby avoiding hurting or helping a candidate move closer to the nomination.
However, it appears that he seems to be making a particular exception to Democratic frontrunner Bernie Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist. In the latest among a string of reports of Obama's preference for a 2020 candidate, the Democrat's friends and associates told Fox Business Network that the former president is concerned about Sanders' rise in the primary polls because he is far-left, "strident" and "confrontational." Reports also state that Obama is considering speaking up to prevent Sanders from winning the Democratic nomination.
A new poll, released by Emerson College on January 26, found out that the Vermont Senator continues to hold a commanding lead in the 2020 Democratic field in Iowa, just days before the state is set to hold its first-in-the-nation caucuses.
Although Obama's reported critique does not seem to have affected Sanders' surging popularity, it does raise questions about the former president's much-touted position on not endorsing any candidate.
The former president is considered the most popular Democrat in America, and his support or criticism of a particular Dem candidate has the power to heavily influence their campaigns, potentially making or breaking them. Therefore, if Obama has resolved to not support a candidate publicly, he should also not drop hints of his disapprobation of others, which only confirms his involvement in the primary race despite public indications otherwise.
It also appears that Obama has already decided on his preferable candidate —Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Reports in December 2019, stated that Obama, over recent months, has privately praised Warren to top donors who are wary of her anti-Wall Street stance.
The Massachusetts senator's campaign has shunned taking contributions from Democrat bundlers and wealthy donors in a break from her past fundraising process where she received donations from such donors in her 2018 Senate campaign. The former president has reportedly said that Warren could potentially become the Democratic nominee for 2020, and if she wins the nomination to fight against President Donald Trump then the Democratic party must come together to back her.
It remains to be seen whether Obama's "secret" endorsement of Warren or criticism of Sanders will affect their chances. For now, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has sunk to fourth place in the latest poll behind Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) while Sanders tops most lists.
While Obama waits for us to connect the dots left by his "private meeting" conversations, it is time the former president — the most-admired man in America for the past 12 years — came out and publicly backed a candidate, formally putting an end to the pernicious speculations.