Before the first Democratic presidential primary debate, the most discussed factor in political media circles was whether Vice President Joe Biden would disrupt the race by declaring a third run for the White House.
But once the dust from the debate settled, and with no sign of Biden despite several invitations from CNN, many national journalists were impressed with front-runner Hillary Clinton’s performance on stage and began walking away from the Biden buzz.
“Does Clinton’s debate win take the air out of Biden’s balloon?” said a Washington Post headline on Wednesday. The story went on to name several Democratic operatives and elected officials who believed Clinton won the debate but none would say what it meant for a potential Biden candidacy.
Mike Allen of Politico said Wednesday in his widely circulated “Playbook” tip sheet, “Vice President Biden waited too long [to get in the race]. After Secretary Clinton’s deft performance in Vegas, it makes it much harder for him to pop up in a day, or a week or two, and say: ‘Wait! What about ME?'”
A separate report in Politico was more definitive. If he ran now, the story said, “Biden would be running to build on the work of the Obama administration, a third term with a twist. But Clinton beat him to it.”
Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster and frequent TV news show guest, conducted a focus group of Florida voters after the debate. “The rationale for Biden is weakened,” he concluded. “Absence did not make the heart grow fonder. Democratic voters are no different from Republicans: everyone wants new voices and fresh ideas. And they believe if the vice president wanted to run for his boss’s job, he should have thrown his hat in the ring already.”
“What we do know is that Biden has just about run out of time,” wrote Yahoo News political columnist Matt Bai. “Clinton’s stabilizing performance in the first debate means that he can’t wait around for another two weeks while party leaders and contributors cast about wildly for an alternative; the longer he stands on the sidelines, the more cemented Clinton’s claim on the Democratic machinery will be.”
Biden himself was asked Wednesday to react to the debate, which also featured candidates Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb. “I thought everyone of those folks did well,” Biden said in Washington, D.C. “Thanks.”
