McClatchy: Privately, Democrat Poobahs Confess Joe Biden Would Be a Terrible Candidate

Me Too!

Joe Biden is everything a Democratic political consultant should love: He’s experienced, well-liked, and his poll numbers look great against Donald Trump.

And yet many party strategists have a bleak assessment of his potential 2020 campaign: It's a bad, bad idea.

...

McClatchy interviewed 31 Democratic strategists -- pollsters, opposition research experts, media consultants, ex-party officials, and communications specialists --from across the country about a potential Biden campaign....

Strikingly, these conversations yielded a similar view: The Democratic political community is more broadly and deeply pessimistic about Biden's potential candidacy than is commonly known. While these strategists said they respect Biden, they cited significant disadvantages for his campaign -- from the increasingly liberal and non-white Democratic electorate to policy baggage from his years in the Senate and a field of rivals that includes new, fresh-faced candidates.

"Among political professionals, there are deep concerns because we know the history," said a Pennsylvania-based Democratic strategist, granted anonymity to speak candidly about a party elder. "We have reason to be skeptical of the hype."

"We heard it with Hillary, and we saw it happened," the source added. "And there's a lot of reason to think he would wind up a significantly weaker candidate than Hillary."

Ouch.

Many of these strategists say that if Biden did win the nomination, they don’t think he would have a better chance of defeating Donald Trump than other top-tier contenders such as Kamala Harris or Kirsten Gillibrand...

Double ouch!

"Let's be honest: He's an older white guy," said Jim Cauley, a longtime Kentucky-based Democratic strategist. "Does he connect with the base?"

So the Democrat Party is officially a party of minorities only. Good to know.

This thread collects up evidence of Biden "connecting" with members of the base, usually underaged girls.

posted by Ace of Spades at 06:27 PM

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