Obama Won't Endorse Democrat in Louisiana Gov. Runoff Next Week

In a revelation that only be called surprising and somewhat odd regarding the leader of the Democratic Party, the White House Friday said that President Barack Obama is not supporting — at least publicly — fellow Democrat John Bel Edwards in his heated contest with Republican Sen. David Vitter.

"I don't believe he's taken a position on that," Press Secretary Josh Earnest told me at the regular briefing for White House reporters Friday afternoon. I don't know how closely he's followed it."

"If he's not following it, he's obviously missing out on some entertainment value," deadpanned the president's top spokesman, obviously referring to some hard-hitting TV spots reminding Pelican State voters of Vitter's 2007 admission that he had once visited a prostitute.

Earnest said, "I suspect he's been kept abreast of it, but I am not aware of any official position he's taken on it."

Obama's position is unusual in that the president, as leader of his party, always weighs in for its nominees except in situations that are rare and involve scandal or extreme controversy. A case in point was that of President George H.W. Bush in 1991, who not only refused to endorse onetime Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke when he was the Republican in the runoff for Louisiana governor but signaled that if he were a Louisianan, he would vote for Democrat Edwin Edwards (who won).

But, barring unusual circumstances such as that, presidents usually back their party's nominees. President Bill Clinton, for example, voiced no objection to supporting Marion Barry when the former Washington, D.C. mayor who was once jailed for cocaine possession was nominated for a fourth non-consecutive term in 1994.

In the case of Louisana's Democrat Edwards (no relation to Edwin) today, there is no controversy. Although Edwards takes positions favoring the right to keep and bear arms and the right to life that differ with Obama, he is also a passionate backer of Louisiana joining the Medicaid exchange — a key element of Obamacare.

The latest Market Research Insight poll showed that among likely voters statewide, Edwards leads Vitter by a margin of 52% to 38%. The UNO Survey Research Center showed Edwards trouncing Vitter by 56% to 34%.

"Obviously the voters of Louisiana will have to determine who should lead them next," Earnest said.

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.