Subject: Biden’s easy road to the nomination - The Washington Post
From: "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Alexander S. Mackler" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2015 20:39:08 -0400

Biden’s easy road to the nomination - The Washington Post
Never trust a conservative on this but....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2015/08/19/bidens-easy-road-to-the-nomination/

Biden’s easy road to the nomination
Vice President Joe Biden shares a hug with President Obama after Obama
eulogized Biden’s son, Beau Biden, during his funeral in Wilmington, Del.,
in June. (Pool photo by William Bretzger/The Wilmington News-Journal via
Associated Press)

Vice President Joe Biden is not yet running for president. Nevertheless, the
latest CNN poll
<http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/08/18/rel8b.-.democrats.2016.pdf>
has him at 14 percent and Hillary Clinton at 47 percent. The 43 percent
not-Clinton vote (Biden’s 14 percent plus 29 percent for Sen. Bernie
Sanders) nearly equals her support.

It stands to reason that if Biden got into the race, he’d peel off both
Clinton voters (who are in despair but know Sanders is unelectable) and
Sanders voters (who want a non-corrupt, working-class champion who is
electable). Without running a single ad, he would likely jump into second
place.

From there it is simple. He lets the GOP, the media and the FBI work their
will on Clinton. As a member of the executive branch, he can refuse to
answer any question about her legal difficulties. Instead, he runs a
blue-collar-friendly race, stressing his own Scranton, Pa., roots and
reminding voters that he was the one fighting for gay rights and gun
control in this administration. (All that has the benefit of being true.)

Moreover, Biden emphasizes Clinton’s rotten political skills and
unelectability by doing what she is incapable of — wading into crowds,
holding town halls, talking to any reporter he can find, doing the Sunday
shows and — most important — going all in to win one of the two early
states, most likely New Hampshire. He can shake every hand, visit every
diner and sit in every living room, lavishing early-state voters with
attention, something they cannot resist. Sanders’ out-of-state mega-rallies
are impressive, but it’s not clear that will get him results on caucus
night in Iowa in February. Biden knows that and knows nearly every
Democratic official who matters in every state. (He has run for VP twice
and run on his own for president twice — in 1988 and 2008.)

Biden has two silent endorsements. First, he plays on the president’s
obvious affection and respect for him, which is palpable. Second, there is
Beau Biden. We now know Beau wanted his father to run for office. It may be
too emotionally grueling and even off-putting for Biden to invoke his
deceased son, but Jill Biden, a tremendous political asset in her own
right, can do it. Moreover, the country saw Biden through new eyes in the
aftermath of Beau’s death — heroic, brave, gracious, stalwart. It is that
image of the reluctant public servant tested by personal tragedy that is
most compelling. In a way Hillary Clinton can never do, Biden can connect
emotionally with voters — more than ever in the aftermath of his son’s
death.

Let’s face it: Hillary Clinton is in a precarious position. One more FBI
revelation or a strong shove from Biden may send her over the precipice.
Let’s see whether Biden fully grasps that and is fully prepared to take her
on. If he does, he’ll earn the eternal thanks of his party (and the media,
which will have someone entertaining to cover) — and the respect of the
country at large.

Eric D. Schwerin
[email-masked]

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