Will Obama endorse Clinton shortly after she gets a majority of the pledged delegates

[onenote]

While it is theoretically possible that Clinton won't get the majority of the pledged delegates, it seems that most Sanders supporters no longer view that as a realistic possibility. And once Clinton has a majority of pledged delegates she will also have enough commitments from super delegates to get a clear majority of all delegates.

At that point, will Obama move quickly to endorse her, sending a clear signal to everyone that its time to put the nominating process behind them and move to the GE. I suspect the answer is yes, given Obama's knowledge of the history of the process and the fact that he too is a member of the Democratic establishment and thus someone with little reason to be deferential to the candidate whose campaign increasingly has focused on bad mouthing the Democratic establishment.

And once Obama says its over, it really is over. There is no way the supers switch so long as Clinton stays in the race.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. He will save his endorsement for the convention, as he should.

[onenote]

3. History says you're wrong

Clinton endorsed Gore in December 1999. Bush endorsed McCain months before the repub convention and Reagan did the same for Bush 1.

Obama recognizes the threat that Trump poses and the need for the nominating process to be at an end and for the campaign to shift into GE mode. And he won't delay and let things fester for a couple of months. It will be soon after the last primary and will be the capper on a stampede of super delegates endorsing Clinton (including some former Sanders super delegates).

[TimPlo]

9. Apples to oranges saying Clinton endorsed Gore.

Well in 2000 Gore had 75% of the votes
Bradley dropped out on March 9
Gore was the presumptive nominee as he had gotten a majority just on pledged delegates and his only contender had dropped out. No one can claim Clinton is presumptive nominee till either she gets the majority of delegates off of just Pledged delegates or Sanders drops out, too do other wise is just being a foolish bias poo poo head.

And same thing with McCain he had the nomination on March 4, 2008 because Mike Huckabee dropped out then. Even though Ron Paul stayed in until July McCain secured the nomination because Ron only had 1.2% and need to have at least I think 15% to be considered a viable contender that can force a contested convention.(But RNC might be different than DNC.)

[onenote]

10. Clinton endorsed Gore before the first primary or caucus was held.

Obama already has publicly stated that we'll know who the nominee is when the voting is done on June 7. As a practical matter, he recognizes how destructive and distracting it will be if the contest appears to be ongoing until the convention. He would personally be pestered continuously with questions about why he hasn't endorsed the candidate with the majority of pledged delegates and enough commitments from supers to become the nominee. And he won't let that happen. He'll make it clear that as far as he is concerned, its over. Biden will do the same. And there will be a rush of previously uncommitted supers to the Clinton side and even some Sanders supers will bail out on him. The sense of momentum being completely in her direction will be overwhelming.

Obama, Biden and the supers recognize the threat that Trump poses and, to be frank, have no incentive to leave a crack of hope open for the candidate who has done nothing but bash the Democratic establishment -- a label that encompasses Obama, Biden and most of the super delegates.

[TimPlo]

11. Good point I was wrong I thought he did it after Gore secured it.

I see your point now why has Obama not endorsed Hillary yet? I mean if he felt she was the right person for the job you would think he would done that by now. He must oh had some reservations about her becoming the nominee then I guess.

[onenote]

20. Maybe. Or maybe that's just his style. To let the process play out for a while.

But then to act when the downside of not acting requires it.

[geek tragedy]

18. his duty is to the party, not sore losers

Once we know who the nominee is, he won't pretend the issue is still in question in order to coddle people not willing to be an adult about the process.

He will endorse the winner of the voting, and start campaigning on that person's behalf against Trump.

[fasttense]

36. Calling people sore losers is guaranteed to ensure the Bernie or Bust movement

will continue. Remember when the RepubliCONS said that when W won? We were actually sore winners. It's just that the Supremes are as crooked as any mob.

I wonder if Obama will go back to wanting to cut Social Security after the elections?

[geek tragedy]

46. "How dare you call people who will take their ball and go home while refusing to honor

the results of the election 'sore losers'"

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

45. He has no duty to sore winners, either.

[geek tragedy]

47. he will endorse the candidate who was chosen by the voters in Democratic primaries

If Bernie some how manages to pull of a pledged delegate win by winning 85% of the vote in California, then hats off I'm sure Obama will endorse him.

Otherwise, Clinton will have won by getting more votes, and she will be the one receiving his endorsement.

Simple concept--win his endorsement by winning the primary election

[Ash_F]

2. I think he might wait to be sure she doesn't catch a charge.

[onenote]

4. Nope. He'll want the focus to shift to Democrats fighting Trump, not each other.

He wouldn't be making statements like this if he was going to wait:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512105630

[Surya Gayatri]

34. Exactly, "will be clear next week" means just that...

Watch him make his endorsement at least no later than June 14, and more likely right after June 7.

Watch for a tidal wave of supers to declare for Hillary in that same window.

[onehandle]

5. He should stop wasting time...

...and shoot Donald Trump into the Sun posthaste.

Wait... What were we talking about?

[JimDandy]

6. Of course he will. His legacy, you know.

[Cobalt Violet]

14. it's his to blow

He's already blown it so why not make it worse.

[geek tragedy]

17. vast majority of Democrats and liberals approve of his legacy

the fringe doesn't, but there's no pleasing the fringe

[LonePirate]

7. Since when do most Sanders supporters think she will receive a majority of pledged delegates?

The ones here at DU seem to think he's going to sweep all of the remaining contests and then waltz into Philadelphia as if he cake walked through the primary season with only token opposition.

[Garrett78]

12. It's certainly taken a long time for some to accept what was apparent by mid-March.

But there do seem to be relatively few people now who think Sanders has a shot at 2026. Most are focused on "impending indictment" and a love affair with historically worthless hypothetical general election match-up polls that are sure to convince superdelegates to vote for Sanders in overwhelming numbers.

[DesMoinesDem]

8. The real question is will he pardon her when she is indicted.

[beachbum bob]

13. possible but usually the president waits to the convention

that wont stop remaining uncommitted super delegates to come out for hillary before the convention...in spite of sanders alternative reality, the campaign is over, been over for weeks

but keep suckering the donations though

[onenote]

21. Not true.

Clinton endorsed Gore before the first primary was held. Bush and Reagan both endorsed their successors months before the conventions were held.

[floppyboo]

15. I think he'll wait until one or the other conceeds.

He doesn't strike me as someone who would blatantly skew the convention outcome.

[geek tragedy]

19. convention outcome will be 'skewed' by the fact Clinton will have won the voting

The refusal of the DNC to consider stealing the nomination for Sanders and its refusal to screw over its own voters does not mean the system is rigged.

[floppyboo]

22. Slow down! I didnt come anywhere close to implying 'rigging'

Obama could skew the SD vote results by endorsing before the race is over, as in, Democrats value his opinion and if unsure, may well grab hold of his opinion.

[floppyboo]

23. I think I misued the word skewed, given the political context vs. say, a scientific one

where skewed would be a bias of observed influence. my bad.

[geek tragedy]

24. Obama will endorse the candidate who won the voting. That's not skewing anything, that's

democracy.

He's under no obligation to clear the path for Sanders to attempt a super-delegate coup.

[floppyboo]

26. I have no doubt he will, but isn't the voting over at the convention?

unless someone concedes first, or will they still hold a vote in that case?

[geek tragedy]

27. no, the actual voting will be over June 15.

the convention is a bunch of party insiders putting on a show.

[floppyboo]

29. But don't the super delegates carry something like 1/3 of the vote?

They don't count?

[geek tragedy]

30. they're there to ratify the popular vote winner absent truly extraordinary circumstances

like death, a deadlock amongst more than two candidates, etc.

they're superfluous and should either be done away with or reduced in numbers.

[floppyboo]

31. didn't someone else die in June?

[geek tragedy]

32. that wasn't clever the first 1000 times Sanders supporters mentioned it nt

[floppyboo]

33. You know very well they didn't mention it first, which is why it sticks

But, forgot about that. As you say, the SD's are there, like it or not, to be able to vote until (edit) AT the convention just in case. Think of all the money and time and hand-wringing that could be avoided without them! I agree with you, but then, you'd have to have some other kind of contingency in place. That would be a GD discussion, so, another time.

[MyNameGoesHere]

16. You bet your ass he will

And it will be glorious. Back to back to back Democrat in the Whitehouse, a Trifecta of awesomeness. Let's just hope we can get the quad by winning in 2020.

[geek tragedy]

25. He will move very quickly to endorse the winner of the primary voting and campaign

on behalf of that candidate against Donald Trump.

[B Calm]

28. He sure has been holding out on endorsing her. I think he fears it,

but party oligarchy will force him.

[onenote]

37. I don't think fear has anything to do with it

I think its simply his style. Let the process play out and act when the negative consequences of not acting requires it.

[B Calm]

39. Or he's worried about smearing his legacy.

[onenote]

40. I think the person who should be worrying about his legacy

is Sanders, if he plays the sore loser card.

[B Calm]

41. Not in our book. He's a hero who went up against the oligarchy and didn't back down!

[Orangepeel]

35. Probably after the DC primary.

[onenote]

38. Should have included this in my OP: Obama and Biden are super delegates

They each have a vote.

[CentralMass]

44. They could feeling then Bern ;-)

[firebrand80]

42. He may not use those words

But he'll probably appear at a joint event with Hillary and talk mostly about "uniting to defeat Trump."

[MineralMan]

43. I imagine he will, either on June 8 or June 15.

There really won't be any reason to wait and every reason to get the General Election discussion started. He's already going after Trump, but once he endorses Clinton, he'll be better able to do that, too.

I think we'll see a large number of important endorsements after the June 7 elections. Elizabeth Warren will probably be one of the first to endorse.