Posted on 08/03/2015 1:28:29 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Maureen Dowd's column over the weekend -- which reported that Beau Biden's dying wish was that his father run for president in 2016 -- has started anew a debate over whether the Vice President should or will make the race.
There's tons of conflicting reporting on that question; some people are highlighting the fact that a longtime fundraiser for Beau has signed onto a draft effort for the vice president while others note that Biden has done nothing that would indicate he is moving toward the contest. Divining what's accurate and what's wishful thinking in all of this is made all the more difficult by the fact that this is a deeply personal decision for Biden -- one likely spurred, if he did run, by the deathbed wish of his son. The circle of who really knows what Biden is thinking, then, is extremely small.
So, rather than try to understand what Biden will ultimately do, I asked a handful of unaligned Democratic strategists where he might fit into the race if he did run. And, their opinions, much like my own, were that there's not a whole lot of room for the vice president in the race.
"The Democratic primary audience isn’t pining for something different," said one Democratic consultant granted anonymity to candidly assess the prospects of the vice president. "You have your Elizabeth Warren crowd that is currently gravitating to Bernie Sanders. Joe Biden can’t capture any of that crowd. And Hillary has great passion from the African-American, young, and female base. Joe Biden does not mean anything to those individuals."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
“Beau Biden’s dying wish..”
Straight out of a 1940’s Hollywood B movie.
Plugs, you are beyond despicable.
Am i the only one who thinks obama and jarrett would be the puppeteers staying inside the beltway controlling everything? Makes sense to me.
Biden will be a phony challenge to Mrs. Clinton — so that her coronation is disguised as “the biggest political comeback in 20 years!”
Is she saying, “Do it for Beau?”
Nothing about Joe Biden makes sense. I hope he runs.
Joe Biden doesn’t make a ton of sense
Octogenarians for Joe!
Cillizza’s running interference for HRC. I’ve been saying for months that Biden will get in. And obama will be behind it.
I agree. And if he runs, I expect Biden’s position to be 100% “continuation of 0bama regime” on all issues.
I also hope he runs. I think the entertainment value would be great.
I think he is being drafted to split Sander’s vote to make it easier for Hillary to win the nomination.
Or he is being drafted to split Hillary’s vote to make it easier for Sander’s to win the nomination.
Or maybe the idiot thinks he can win.
Nonsense. Joe is very fond of young black females...especially ones that won't be eligible to vote until 2020.
Whatever happened to the “Elizabeth Warren for President” bandwagon?
Maybe it's a cheap nod towards giving Biden "his shot" during the Potemkin primaries to make him go away, since he's driven by things other than money or common sense.
Outright telling this useful idiot "no" might pull back a bit of the veil, and put off future potential useful idiots from blindly joining the herd.
Thank you for following the rules.
Biden would be the “safe” pick, like Humphrey in 68.
If plenty of Democrats are "gravitating to" Bernie Sanders, it's a sign that Democrats are "pining for something different" from Hillary. And really, who says Hillary has great passion from the African-American, young, and female base." Whatever support she has among Black or young voters doesn't look to be either passionate or unshakeable.
I understand that Biden doesn't have a base among a large, reliably Democratic voting bloc, but there could be enough independents turned off by having to choose between 20 Republicans to give Biden a boost in the Democratic primary. If there are any White working class guys left in the Democratic Party, Joe could win their votes as well.
It's always nice when the experts are confounded by some unexpected event. One thing they do get, though -- it's not like Obama could just bequeath his voting base to Biden. Joe will have an uphill battle in the demographic building blocks of the party if he runs. Also, Hillary, still the front runner, can threaten serious reprisals against office-holders in her party who don't support her.
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