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| Vide President JOe Biden |
The vice-president, who has twice mounted runs for the White House, signaled he was still open to exploring a third presidential bid this weekend when longtime aide Josh Alcorn joined the Draft Biden Pac. This was the first official link between Biden’s close-knit circle of loyalists and the effort mounted by fans of the vice-president to encourage him to jump into the 2016 campaign.
Those close to Biden emphasized to the Guardian this week that the vice-president has still not made a decision about whether to run for president. Instead, they noted that Alcorn’s move should be read as a signal that Biden hasn’t ruled out a run and that his supporters should not yet sign on with other campaigns.
Biden has long indicated to supporters that he would make a final decision about a presidential campaign at the end of the summer. While this would be a very late start for a presidential campaign by modern standards, it would still allow Biden to appear in the first Democratic debate as well as to speak at the Iowa Democratic party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner, which is a major event on the primary calendar.
While Biden’s late son Beau reportedly urged his father to run for White House from his deathbed, it is unclear whether all members of the Biden family share this enthusiasm. A third presidential campaign for Biden would be an uphill fight against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who has locked up significant support from the Democratic establishment. However, amid the constant drip of scandal surrounding her use of a private email server, her campaign has been marked more by acquiescence to a seemingly inevitable candidate than genuine enthusiasm.It has become increasingly apparent that Hillary Clinton has enormous trust issues. Besides the email fiasco, there is also questions regarding the Clinton Foundation and whether Hillary Clinton used her position as Secretary of State to aid fundraising for the Foundation.
But besides the trust issues, the real problem with Hillary Clinton as presidential candidate is she lacks the personality and skill set to be a good presidential candidate. She is thin-skinned, secretive, and testy when challenged. On the campaign trail she refuses to address basic issues, such as whether she supports Keystone Pipeline or the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Although those issues are deeply divisive among Democrats, her "solution" to not express an opinion strikes of naivety.
Bottom line is, when it comes to political skills,Hillary Clinton is no Bill Clinton.
The Democratic establishment may well have made a mistake to put all their faith in a candidate who has never proven herself to be a strong campaigner. Let's not forget in 2008, when Hillary Clinton had all the institutional advantages her party could offer, she lost the presidential nomination to a first term Senator from Illinois.
Republicans would be wise though to not celebrate Hillary Clinton's 80 mile an hour fastballs down the middle of the political plate. The Democrats have called on VP Joe Biden to warm up in the bullpen. Biden, for all his gaffes and goofiness, is a much more skilled politician than Hillary Clinton ever thought of being. His willingness to speak his mind, often embarrassingly so, would be a powerful draw for an electorate begging for candidates to be authentic and talk straight to them.
4 comments:
ah, but not a single candidate has come forth and anounced for 2020 - what's wrong with America?
Paul, you may be correct in listing HRC's deficiencies, but she's got sizable advantages that make a Biden run an uphill climb:
* money
* organization
* contracts with party apparatchiks
* money
* discipline (as opposed to Biden's gaffes & offhand remarks)
* did I mention money?
A Biden win over HRC isn't impossible, but I think it's unlikely. Don't forget that this is HRC's final opportunity to be POTUS; she will not pull punches the way she did in 2008, for she need not fear alienating black primary voters & caucus-goers.
The Democrats have a real old-school, Humphrey-style Democrat in Sanders, but they don't want any part of him, even though Sanders draws actual interest.
Hillary's unfavorable rating is now at 48.4% vs Favorable of 42.3% as July 30th. The problem for Hillary is the unfavorable responses are on the up swing. Hillary's balloon has been punctured by Bernie Sanders and her own baggage. The McMega-Media Pundits several weeks ago sensing Hillary's vulnerability and the huge numbers at Sander's rallies attributed this to Hillary's failure as a candidate, not as a Sanders success. The Pundits basically said the Democrats wanted a candidate like Joe Biden or the pathetic John Kerry.
The McMega-Media just wants to ignore Sander's Campaign for President. Sanders has drawn large crowds at his rallies far more than any other Candidate for President. Sanders positions whether you agree with them or not have been enunciated in the past by him. Hillary's Campaign has been a smile and the glittering generalities of Night and Fog.
Sanders is steadily closing in on Hillary and as Liberal Bernie he has my vote. I am tired of the Clinton-Obama-Bayh Corporate Wing of the Democratic Party.
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