Joe Biden has just announced that he’s running for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. The problem here being that Joe’s pretty much everything the Democratic Party isn’t and isn’t looking for at present. He’s an old white – and heterosexual – guy. He manages to hit absolutely none of the groupings that make up intersectionality. Worse, he’s got certain problems in this #metoo era. You know, the wandering hand thing?
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Ending months of speculation, former Vice President Joe Biden announced Thursday he is launching his third presidential campaign. Instantly joining the race as an early frontrunner, the former vice president and more than a dozen major Democratic candidates seek to deny President Trump a second term.[/perfectpullquote]Sure, name recognition at this point is everything. But it’s not going to be enough.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]In his campaign announcement video, Biden rebuked the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 and President Donald Trump’s handling of the aftermath.“He said there were quote some very fine people on both sides,” Biden said. “With those words, the President of the United States assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it. And in that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime.”
Biden framed the 2020 race as a “battle for the soul of this nation.”[/perfectpullquote]
Well, he can hardly run on the idea that this is the last time he can run for it, can he?
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]I know a lot of people will disagree. They wonder how “Creepy Joe” – as some of his critics have dubbed him – can win his party’s nomination in the age of the #MeToo movement, after accusations that he’s been inappropriately “touchy” with women over the years.[/perfectpullquote]Well, quite, he’s not any of the things the Dems are reportedly looking for – ethnic, female, gay, you know, something other than the one group that is currently blamed for all that ails society – he’s also actually one of the things they’re definitely not looking for, a creepy old guy who lays hands a little too closely.
As to the idea that he’s the one to take on Trump and win. Trump’s entire appeal is that he’s not from the normal political mould. Joe Biden is that mold mould personified. Running a career politician against Trump just isn’t going to cut it.
Seriously, that just doesn’t do it these days.
Joe is one of those fumble the long pass type of guys, so I rather doubt he’ll get the nomination, but not all Democrats are completely whackadoodle even though the present crop of candidates largely is, as are most most Democratic bloggers and political junkies. Nevertheless, a majority, after all, in 2016 did vote for the traditionally corrupt Clinton over the completely bonkers Sanders. If most Dems are still somewhat middle of the road, a more mainstream candidate may eventually be nominated and Trump may lose.
As you say, Mr. Bidden’s bid will fail for a variety of reasons – aside from minor issues like Mr. Biden’s fondness for Mr. Kinnock’s speeches.
The NYT just published this article “Joe Biden Just Called Anita Hill to Express Regret…” that illustrates Mr. Biden’s extensive baggage:
“Ms. Hill, in an interview Wednesday, said she left the conversation feeling deeply unsatisfied and declined to characterize his words to her as an apology.
She said she was not convinced that Mr. Biden truly accepted the harm he caused her and other women who suffered sexual harassment and gender violence.”
Not sure if it’s a phrase that has disappeared into the sinkhole of time, but in my youth – two generations ago, people like Joe were described as suffering from Desert’s Disease, the main symptom being wandering palms.