Former President Obama, one of the most respected voices of the modern Democratic Party, and former First Lady Michelle Obama have officially supported Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday to be their party’s nominee for the White House in the fall.
Citing Harris’ work as a prosecutor, California attorney general, U.S. senator and vice president, the Obamas said in a statement and video announcing their support that she was best qualified to take President Biden’s place after he announced he would end his re-election campaign.
“Kamala has more than a resume. She has the vision, character, and strength that this critical moment demands. There is no doubt in our minds that Kamala Harris has exactly what it takes to win this election and serve the American people,” the Obamas said in their statement. “At a time when the stakes have never been higher, she gives us all reason to hope.”
The former president had been reluctant to engage in the White House race after Biden announced Sunday that he was withdrawing from the race. Obama had said he believed it was important for Democratic delegates to chart their own course in choosing a new nominee. But he was also in regular contact with Harris, as he has been over the two decades they have known each other, according to a source familiar with their conversations.
Obama was impressed with Harris’ performance in the days after Biden decided not to seek re-election, this person said.
The Obamas’ nomination is not surprising given their long-standing relationship with Harris — which predates their time when they both became household names — and given Harris’ success in consolidating Democratic support this week.
Harris and Barack Obama met in 2004, when he was a senator from Illinois and she was the district attorney in San Francisco.
Before the 2008 election, when the odds seemed to favor Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination, Harris attended his 2007 presidential campaign announcement in Springfield, Illinois, and later trudged through the snow to campaign for him in Iowa before his surprise victory in the state caucuses in January 2008.
A few months later, Harris was selected by Obama’s campaign to speak on his behalf at the California Democratic convention, ahead of the state’s primary. She followed former President Clinton, who spoke on behalf of his wife, then a senator from New York.
“Can you say ‘Gulp’?” she asked at the rally in San Jose.
Harris argued that Obama could unify the nation and compared her own appearance before state delegates to Obama’s candidacy.
“Isn’t it audacity to do the unimaginable?” she said, prompting her supporters to chant: “Obama! Obama!”
(Hillary Clinton ultimately defeated him in the California primary, but Obama won the nomination and the White House.)
Harris remained close to the then-president while she was elected California attorney general and was dubbed “the female Obama” in political circles.
The relationship made controversial headlines when the president described Harris at a 2013 fundraiser as “brilliant,” “dedicated” and “tough,” then added that Harris was also “by far the best.” “The most handsome attorney general.”
He immediately I called her to apologize, saying he had no intention of diminishing his achievements.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, near the end of his second term, Obama did not take a position as Harris, Biden and other Democrats competed in primaries. He endorsed Biden, his vice president, in April of that year, a day after Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders himself endorsed Biden after dropping out of the race.
The former president and Harris have many collaborators in common. Her first attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., reportedly helps Harris screen potential vice presidential candidates, and Jen O’Malley Dillon, Obama’s deputy White House chief of staff and 2012 deputy campaign manager, is managing Harris’ campaign.
In their endorsement statement, the Obamas pledged that Harris had their “full support” and that they would work hard to get her elected to the White House.
“We look forward to seeing her unite our party and our country around a vision of a brighter, fairer, and more prosperous future,” they said. “We will do everything we can to elect Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States. And we hope you will join us.”
In a nearly minute-long video showing the Obamas’ call to Harris on Wednesday announcing their support, she said their support was meaningful and that she looked forward to campaigning with them.
After Michelle Obama called her “my daughter Kamala” and her campaign “historic,” Harris responded: “The words you have spoken and the friendship you have shown me over the years mean more than I can express. So thank you both!”
She added: “And we’re going to have fun with this too, aren’t we?”
California Daily Newspapers
