Former Vice President Joe Biden had one of his infamous slips of the tongue last week, accidentally revealing that he was likely going to run for president.
Immediately, the 76-year-old was slammed… not by conservatives, but his own party!
He’s TOO old!
He’s TOO moderate!
He’s TOO white!
Well, the crafty former senator from Delaware is reportedly working on a plan to do an end-run around all of his critics and leapfrog over the rest of the field.
Insiders are whispering that Biden will not only announce his candidacy as soon as this coming week…
He’s also going to reveal his running mate, too!
And reportedly at the top of his list: 45-year-old Stacey Abrams, the failed Democratic candidate for Georgia governor last year who also delivered the response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
The Associated Press reports the two met privately for lunch last week, at Biden’s request.
CNN said the vice presidency was not discussed – but with one important qualifier. The network said it didn’t come up “at the meeting.”
Already the establishment is gushing over the possibility of a longtime member of the Washington machine joining forces with an up-and-coming darling of the left.
New York Magazine’s Daily Intelligencer column listed nine reasons it would be a “brilliant idea,” with Abrams basically ticking off nearly every important demographic box, proving that Democrats are as obsessed with identity politics as ever.
But others warned it could backfire, with Vanity Fair saying it could hurt both Biden and any future aspirations by Abrams if it comes across as a gimmick.
Still, even they couldn’t help but believe it would benefit Biden.
“Hitching his wagon to Abrams could be just what he needs to expand his base in both the primary and the general elections,” wrote Eric Lutz.
Abrams hasn’t commented except to issue the classic non-denial denial, releasing a statement saying she will “keep all options on the table for 2020 and beyond,” according to Axios.
Biden in polls already has a healthy lead over his rivals, including four senators (Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who failed last year in his bid to join them in the Senate.
The latest poll from CNN has Biden in the lead for the Democratic primaries at 28 percent, with Sanders a distant second at 20 percent. Harris is at 12 percent, O’Rourke at 11 percent, and everyone else is in the single digits… including no less that NINE candidates, both announced and announced, polling at between 0 percent and 1 percent.
Talk about a crowded field!
This early in the campaign, Biden’s healthy lead has more to do with his name recognition than anything else.
Still, a head start’s a head start – and if he makes a big splash by adding Abrams to the ticket, he could run away with the lead before a single vote is cast.
The primaries will essentially become a formality, even if the far left is howling that Biden would be “cheating” by choosing a black woman as an ornamental running mate.
But whatever happens in the Democratic primaries, it might not matter much come next autumn.
Politico – not exactly a Trump-friendly news outlet – recently led its website with the blaring headline: “How Trump is on track for a 2020 landslide”
It was based on a fundamental fact: Just about every economic indicator that traditionally matters to presidential voters is lined up in Trump’s favor.
“The economy is just so damn strong right now and by all historic precedent the incumbent should run away with it,” Donald Luskin told Politico. “I just don’t see how the blue wall could resist all that.”
Luskin is chief investment officer of a research firm called TrendMacrolytics, which more people are paying attention right now.
Why?
In 2016, it was one of the only forecasting models to predict that Trump would win.
Sorry, Uncle Joe. Looks like this job has already been filled!
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert, and is the author of “America’s Final Warning.”