Mr. Biden has decided not to make a run for the Democratic nomination…
“While I will not be a candidate,” Biden said, “I will not be silent.” Just because Biden was not to appear on ballots, that did not mean he would retire his attack-dog instincts. After all, few in politics today can deliver a jab as effectively without looking like a bully.
“We intend to spend the next 15 months fighting for what we care about,” Biden said, hinting that he would use his office and his political skills to help Obama and the eventual Democratic nominee. “We are fully capable of accomplishing extraordinary things. … We can do so much more.”
And the most relieved person in the room is…Bernie Sanders.
Biden was always positioned as the anti-Bernie candidate. No one has that job now, which gives Bernie and his brogressive pals the opportunity to continue to roll up the numbers on Hillary Clinton (at least for the moment).
And Hillary loses, in the long-term. There is no one else in the Democratic field now who can pull her away from Bernie’s gravity.
Clinton remains the favorite to win the nomination. Her numbers have wobbled and tottered. Her problems are not yet behind her, and may yet grow worse (though Republican House members seem determined to rescue her at great cost to themselves).
But as Jim Webb complained in his withdrawal speech on Tuesday, the party apparatus is behind her. The big money is with her. And unless Sanders can find a way to crack her core constituencies, she is going to win.
The nomination. The general? Well, that depends on the Republicans. Think about this…
Since 1864, no Democratic president has been succeeded by another Democrat (barring death in office…FDR and JFK). Quite a phenomenon/coincidence.
