I identify myself as a moderate Republican. Because of this, you probably wouldn’t expect me to want Joe Biden to run for president. Well, I do; frankly, it’s because the Republicans have no viable frontrunner and the rest of the candidates are quite atrocious.
Biden reminds me of Jed Bartlet, the president from the TV show “The West Wing.” He’s the kind of Democrat that Republicans could deal with, and with the right running-mate, he could actually return to the White House in his boss’ position.
In a recent poll by Quinnipiac University, Biden would beat three out of the four Republican front runners, including Jeb Bush, Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina, and would tie with Ben Carson. In the same poll, Hillary Clinton would only beat Trump (barely) and would lose to the other three.
Political media heats up with Biden fever https://t.co/8O91Z10GoR via @CNNMoney pic.twitter.com/b66zbnbl75
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 20, 2015
So, if you ask me, I don’t know what Biden is waiting for anymore. I understand waiting to see the first Democratic debate, which was just a battle of scripted nonsense — Oh I almost forgot, Lincoln Chafee was there, too. However, now would be the best time to jump right in and steal the spotlight away from the untrustworthy Hillary Clinton, the aging Bernie Sanders and the rookie Martin O’Malley — if there was a spotlight on Chafee to begin with, it was dimming anyways.
The Republican party is in shambles and even if the outsiders, Trump, Carson and Fiorina, drop out of the race right now, that would leave Marco Rubio as the front runner and Jeb Bush directly behind him.
These are the hurdles the VP needs to clear, and fast, to make a campaign viable https://t.co/Edu7WFkW1k | AP Photo pic.twitter.com/7BobMLhvu0
— POLITICO (@politico) October 20, 2015
America wouldn’t vote another Bush in office, just like it wouldn’t vote in another Clinton. Rubio is too young for liking and lacks critical experience in foreign policy and homeland security. The other Republicans are too extreme for their own party and the other Democrats can’t seem to gain enough ground to begin with. The public (and the candidate himself) brands Sanders as a socialist, so there isn’t much more ground to gain there besides young people, who rarely vote anyways.
Even so, Biden would win the sympathy vote with Americans because of his late son, Beau Biden. It was well known his son wanted him to run for president and with his unfortunate death, he could inadvertently use it to his advantage. As horrible as it sounds, that’s just how the American people would react. Especially if his campaign slogan turns out to be “Do It for Beau,” which I believe would be very effective.
I have a very good source close to Joe that tells me VP Biden will run for Prez
— US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) October 19, 2015
Several have speculated and claimed to have known about Biden's decision, but it's about time a decision was made. The public deserves an answer.
So, listen up Mr. Vice President, it’s time to wake up and smell the roses. Get out there and show them you’re serious about real progress.
Reach the columnist at abkbundy@gmail.com or follow @abkbundy on Twitter.
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Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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