Posted on 08/05/2015 6:48:00 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
August has become The Joe Biden Season — at least in the media. With Hillary Clinton faltering, news outlets have begun ramping up their coverage of the Vice President as a suddenly rational alternative to the coronation everyone has expected from the Democrats until recently. There doesn’t seem to be much evidence that Bidenmania extends much further than the political commentariat, however. National Journal’s Sarah Mimms and Alex Brown checked in with Biden’s former colleagues in the Senate Democratic caucus, who are underwhelmed by the prospect of Biden 2016:
“I love Joe!” was the refrain on Capitol Hill Monday amid speculation about his potential 2016 presidential campaign, as Biden’s former colleagues were chased down hallways and into elevators and asked about the vice president’s future.
But pressed on whether Biden should actually jump into the race, a dozen Democratic members said that it would be a personal decision for the vice president, and left it at that.
The lack of Senate enthusiasm is notable. Biden served 36 years there, and his deep friendships and longtime alliances on Capitol Hill have made him the White House’s most effective envoy to Congress. So if a Biden bid were imminent, it’s likely he would be consulting with at least a few of his old friends.
Sen. Edward Markey, who has yet to endorse in the 2016 contest, became visibly flustered on Monday when asked whether Biden should enter the race, as he rushed between phone calls to a vote on the Senate floor. “I—I can’t—I can’t. I’ve just gotta go vote,” Markey said, getting into an elevator.
Sen. Bill Nelson paused for several seconds when asked whether Biden should enter the presidential fray, finally saying: “I have talked to him and I think I’ll keep that conversation private.” Pressed on whether they’d discussed the presidential race, Nelson said the conversation had been about “personal things, like family.”
In fact, Bidenmania hasn’t even touched the Bidens themselves. Joe Biden’s sister and political confidante Valerie Biden Owens told The News Journal that they haven’t even discussed the possibility:
Vice President Joe Biden’s sister, who also is his longtime political adviser, said she has not spoken with her brother about plans to run for president, raising more questions about how seriously he is considering a 2016 campaign.
Valerie Biden Owens on Monday said the Biden family has not been “gathering around to decide whether [Joe] will run for president. He’ll decide when he decides,” said Owens, who helped lead Biden’s 2008 presidential campaign. “I have not had a single conversation with him about it.” …
Margaret Aitken, who worked as his press secretary for a decade in the U.S. Senate, said she has not discussed a 2016 campaign with the vice president. But, Aitken said, “My gut feeling is that he will run.”
Really? Er, when would he decide to do so? It’s the August before the primaries, less than five months away from the Iowa caucuses, and Biden hasn’t even started discussing it with his family and advisers. His former Senate colleagues aren’t starting a Draft Biden movement any time soon. No donor bases are being activated. If he’s running, shouldn’t those tasks already be in motion?
The Biden 2016 impulse isn’t a serious option for Democrats. Instead, as I write for The Week, it’s a measure of their desperation. And that applies not just to this cycle, too:
Tellingly, no one else’s name comes up in these if-not-Hillary-then-who scenarios. Bernie Sanders has caught the imagination of the progressive left, including an endorsement from co-founder of Vermont’s own Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, but few seriously believe that the 73-year-old self-proclaimed socialist would find any other constituency in a general election. Sanders has seized the constituency of progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who hesitated too long. Martin O’Malley shot himself in the foot with African-American activists at Netroots Nation last month, and even Sanders had trouble dealing with the grassroots at the event. Neither Jim Webb nor Lincoln Chafee has put together any kind of organization. And overall, this roster of Democratic possibilities shows less diversity in age and ethnicity than the range of possibilities on the GOP ticket.
Look beyond this list, however, and there are few alternatives for Democrats. Many have wagged their fingers at Democrats for investing too much in the Clintons, but where else could they have looked? In three straight election cycles, Democrats have taken body blows at the state and local level, with their share of state legislative seats at its lowest point since Herbert Hoover was president. Their gubernatorial ranks have been thinned as well, as a moment’s thought will attest. Republicans have a number of two-term governors vying for the nomination, and a number still on the bench — names like Susana Martinez, Nikki Haley, Rick Snyder, Mike Pence, and others. Democrats have no ready bench players in position to step up for a national campaign, even if the Clintons’ grasp on the donor class didn’t preclude it.
That should be real cause for desperation — because it isn’t just about this cycle. If Democrats lose the White House in 2016, they have no one ready for 2020. Can you honestly name a Democratic senator or governor who would give a President Rubio or President Walker or President Bush 3.0 a real run for his money in 2020?
It’s not that they love Joe Biden. It’s just that, if Hillary implodes …
He’s more trustworthy than Hillary....which means absolutely nothing. It’s like saying a team has more World Series wins than the Cubs.
there is no democrat bench. we exterminated it in 2010 and 2014. when hillary collapses, another has-been will all the dems have to offer; if it isn’t biden, it will be someone like kerry.
“He’s more trustworthy than Hillary.”
And he’s a total idiot. I hope the gaffe machine gets the nomination.
Or that horse manure smells better than bull crap
After eight years of 0bama Joe Biden would be comedic relief.
He’s a paler version with hair plugs of Obama.
He’ll do just as much damage.
They do have the ruthless Andrew Cuomo, twice elected governor of New York. Normally, such a record would bring you into the picture. But the Democrat’s base can’t stand Cuomo.
Before it’s over, they’ll push Elizabeth Warren into the race.
Joe Biden.
The youthful face of today’s hip Democrat Party!
But remember that in spite of Joe’s gaffes, that he is a good Democrat. Which means that the media will not rerun and dissect and analyze his gaffes over and over, the way they would with a Republican.
Yes Joe is prone to gaffes, but they won’t hurt him nearly as much as a Republican.
Indian 7-11 Franchisee Owners for Biden is holding a Curry potluck and you are invited. There will be a Tandoori Chicken cooking contest.
Democrats are constantly under the Mendoza Line in the when it comes to looking at their bench and/or starting line-up.
On our side, we have a deep bench, but none are holding critical positions.
The few surviving Dems of national stature are all intellectual pygmies, much like their current leader, Bronko Bama. In some cases, like Joe Biden, they’re actually some underdeveloped sub-species only distantly related to the human taxpayer, bearing few, if any of the characteristic traits thereof.
LOL I had Punjabi classmates back in high school and Tandoori Chix were my secret fave dishes. The bad part is that the curry is so strong it sticks to their clothes...XD
Biden is a pretty funny candidate to put forth. A used up old white guy. Some might call that a step back.
When he’s out on stage in the debates, will that have to take a break to change his diaper?
On Joe Biden, “gaffes” are part of of populist charm.
On any Republican, “gaffes” means that Republicans want to perform late term abortions on transgendered illegal aliens in rooftop cages while traveling in gas-guzzling carbon emitters.
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