The First Democratic Debate Precursor of Inevitable
Did Joe miss his opportunity by missing the debate?
If you were looking for fireworks in last night’s debate, they were basically called off by President Obama when he downplayed Hillary’s email scandal on 60 Minutes Sunday. I also believe this was a signal that Vice President Joe Biden has decided not to run.
Democratic Debate
The men on stage with Hillary aren’t really running for President, as much as they are running to make a name for themselves and/or to promote their views. They didn’t go after Hillary hard because they know they’ll have to support her as their nominee next year, and most are gunning for a spot in her cabinet. Biden was the only one with a plausible chance, and that would probably require Hillary being very more damaged by the email scandal than she has thus far.
Bernie Sanders
I think the longer Sanders stays in and brings some entertainment value to what is honestly a boring slate of candidates, the better it will be for Hillary. He at least brings a visible passion to progressive causes that Hillary has never quite learned to exhibit to the populace. We reached a Romney like point in a future debate where Clinton assured the Democrat electorate she is severely progressive.
Joe Biden
The only way Biden could win the debate was to stay out of it, unless he would’ve been willing to attack her as no one else on stage was. A big deficit of Biden’s presidential run is deeply ingrained in his nature, and the problem will only grow worse with time and age. Biden is a verbal loose cannon with poor rhetorical and communications judgement. He is simply not reliable or disciplined about sticking to a strict script of talking points, unlike Obama, and loves to go off the record and off the cuff, whether a microphone is present or not. Many of his gaffes have been ill-conceived jokes, as it seems he imagines himself to be quick witted. This is exactly the type of emotional skittishness that is least controllable when under stress, and the President is always under some kind of stress.
Gaffes like these can be buried soon enough if they’re being delivered by a Vice President at a ceremonial academy graduation speech, or a fundraising pit stop, or even in one debate every 4 years. It’s when a President is representing his Party and the nation internationally and stands under a global microscope day in and day out for years that this becomes a wearing and expanding issue. This is why Democratic delegates have been reticent about Biden jumping in. Hillary is inevitable.
