Why Obama Hasn’t Endorsed Harris

Many of the marquee names in Democratic politics began quickly lining up behind Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday, but one towering presence in the party was conspicuously and purposefully absent: Barack Obama.

The former president has not yet endorsed Ms. Harris; in fact, he did not mention her once in an affectionate — if tautly written — tribute to President Biden that was posted on Medium shortly after he decided to bow out on Sunday.

“Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents, as well as a dear friend and partner to me,” wrote Mr. Obama, who chose Mr. Biden as his running mate in 2008 because he said at the time that he wanted an older, more experienced running mate with “gray in his hair” and limited future presidential ambitions.

“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead,” Mr. Obama wrote in the post. “But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”

Republicans interpreted that as a snub. But people close to Mr. Obama, who has positioned himself as an impartial elder statesman above intraparty machinations, said not to read too much into it — and had no alternate candidate in mind when he made the decision not to immediately endorse Ms. Harris.

Mr. Obama adopted an identical stance four years ago when Mr. Biden’s aides pressured him to endorse early in the Democratic primaries before Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out. (Mr. Obama’s favored phrase back then was “I don’t want to thumb the scale.”) Endorsing too early now would also be a political mistake — fueling criticism that Ms. Harris’s nomination, should it come, was a coronation rather than the best possible consensus under