There’s a lot of speculation in the news recently that Vice President Joe Biden will run for president. OK, let’s say he does announce that he’s going to run for president. Is Hillary hosed? It’s pretty much unthinkable that the president wouldn’t support his own veep. Plus – let’s be honest here – one doesn’t get the impression that Obama & Hillary ever really liked each other that much to begin with. I’m inclined to think that if Biden does get in, the Democratic estabishment will rally around him, and Hillary will find herself in a position not unlike Donald Trump: having a certain amount of popular appeal, but opposed by the party establishment, who will certainly find some way to push the interloper off the stage.
Zero screwed.
Pollsters have been asking Democratic voters for a long time now if they’d prefer Biden to Clinton. Right now Clinton has a lead in the RCP average of about 58 to 12 and that has been pretty steady.
I’m guessing he’s going to announce and just be in the race in case she collapses for some reason.
I’m not so sure that Biden would lose to her. His resume is more impressive and he is infinitely more likeable. I think his liberal cred is much higher and liberal causes are something he truly believes in, as opposed to useful stepping stones to power. If he runs, I’m behind him.
You and about sixteen other people, for better or worse.
I’ve come to like Biden more over the last eight years, but he’s not a formidable candidate. He has no chance of defeating Hillary absent some huge scandal or sickness.
I can’t help but wonder if the administration knows of some controversy (e.g. Emailghazi) that is potentially going to blow up in her face and is getting Biden prepped. Maybe she can work around it and stay viable, but if not Ole Joe is there to pick up the baton.
If Hillary folds, how does Biden stack up against Sanders?
Well, she’s certainly not doing anything at present to get anyone excited, and she’s doing a lot to get some of us a whole lot of ‘meh’ about her candidacy.
I don’t think current primary polls are that meaningful. Biden hasn’t announced yet and if does and campaigns seriously, primary voters will take a proper look at him and see if they like him as a Democratic candidate.
His best case is that he is more electable than Hillary and that is probably true. His approval is 43-44 to her 44-48. On questions like honesty he beats her by enormous margins. There is a miasma of low-level scandals around Hillary which she just isn’t handling well and which have the potential to drag her down further.
As of now Hillary is still the favorite to win the nomination but if she has another month of worsening poll numbers, she will be in serious trouble and Democrats will think hard about Biden.
You are overgeneralizing from your personal opinion. She is quite popular among Democrats, and she’s doing exactly what she should be doing given her overwhelming likelihood of winning the nomination–laying low and letting the GOP shitshow get all the attention.
If she handles it the way she’s handled problems so far, she’s doomed.
I’ve been wondering for a while if the real bombshell might be the Clinton Family Foundation. There’s been a fair amount of scrutiny of it, particularly about if donations to it were tied to political favors while Hillary was Sec. of State. If that turns out to have legs, we might be talking about jail time.
And, depending on how good or bad the Clinton/Obama relationship really was, it’s conceivable that something might be “leaked” to justify Obama suddenly switching support to Biden…
You can think what you like, but Clinton is not just leading in primary polls but is leading in primary polls like no other candidate in modern elections.
But you could also look at money raised where Clinton has a $68 million lead.
Or early endorsements where Clinton also has a historic lead.
I suspect you’ll be using this locution a lot over the next nine years. Better get comfortable with it.
Many people would like to see a female president. They just don’t particularly want it to be Hillary. She seems to think she has that market cornered and that she is somehow entitled. Sad thing is, if Donald Trump is her opposition, she wouldn’t even have to work that hard for it.
Why exactly would they do this? When have they ever done this before?
Hmm. Last time he ran Biden peaked at 5% (once) and usually polled at 2 to 3%. Since then his additional accomplishment has been not saying too much too goofy as Veep and since then HRC has been a SOS and amassed a huge war chest.
Nah, not too screwed. Helped. A horse race is much better media coverage than a prolonged victory lap.
The mere fact that he’s floating his candidacy suggests that he smells blood in the water. Presumably HRC’s recent bad polling vs. Republican candidates in certain swing states has emboldened him, and he may have other private polling suggesting weakness elsewhere too. Obviously the money is all in her camp just now, but I assume he’s imagining that the big donors can be peeled away if they start to think she’s vulnerable. These trial balloons may be aimed at gauging the likelihood of that happening. Certainly, he’s never excited the party before, but he’s probably thinking that HRC had it yanked away last time – why not see if that can happen again?
Nonsense. Find me one campaign insider who thinks individual state polling at this stage is at all meaningful. Certainly Biden knows better.
Poor Joe. I like the guy. As VPs go he’s a good one. I hope he doesn’t run, he won’t make a difference but he’ll have to endure the jokes anyway. If he does anything he’ll draw votes from the other candidates who can’t beat Hillary. I suppose if Hillary blows up on the primary trail he can step in as the establishment candidate that will lose to Jeb.
Hillary is the establishment candidate.