Former Vice President Joe Biden’s current strategy to win the Democratic presidential nomination is obvious. Even as every newspaper columnist and TV talking head writhes in agony about how much “more” they want to see from him, Biden certainly knows that doesn’t need them. He doesn’t need the highly anticipated endorsement from Frank Bruni of the New York Times. He needs the support of Democratic primary voters.
But after Wednesday’s debate, Bruni complained that Biden “wasn’t the old Biden” that he hoped to see. “I so hoped and I so want to say otherwise, because I believe him to be a decent man,” wrote Bruni. “But there’s that way in which he trails off at the end of a sentence or an argument, all the little hiccups en route, the messy seams connecting one thought to the next, the demeanor that falls into a maddening gray area between engaged and fully animated.”
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This is that thing where media pundits mistake their own needs and desires for what voters want, which are, more often than not, not the same things. As of Thursday morning, Biden is still polling nationally 15 points ahead of his nearest rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. In Iowa, Biden is 8 points ahead. In New Hampshire, he’s 6 points ahead.
When he’s sitting on that kind of lead, he has absolutely no incentive to do a little song and dance for the media. And there is no upside to getting in a pissing match with any one of his Democratic opponents. To do that would only serve to elevate their status and earn them more attention. Why would Biden throw them that lifeline when he can simply watch them drown?
Biden’s strategy is working. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be the leading candidate. I’m tempted to say that the strategy won’t work throughout the entire primary, because you can only hide for so long, but when you look at the rest of the Democratic field, I’m guessing Biden feels pretty safe.
Sanders is about to leave the ground with how hard his arms are flapping. California Sen. Kamala Harris is getting it from both sides about her record as a law enforcer, if you can believe it. And the media have finally come to terms with the fact that Beto O’Rourke is a bore with no political talent or credible message.
Who does that leave on stage? The Whoville-esque mayor from South Bend, Indiana who can’t stop apologizing to black people, a bald former Maryland House member, and that psychic lady.
Biden, meanwhile, is saying very little. And give him this much: Most of it isn’t off-putting to Midwest voters or terrifying to small children.
Liberals in the media want a show from Biden, but at least for now, he’s doing better without it.
