Although former Vice President Joe Biden has not officially thrown his hat into the ring for the 2020 presidential race, early polling among registered voters indicates that he would dominate among Democrats if primary elections were held tomorrow.
A Morning Consult/Politico poll conducted this week found that 26 percent of registered Democrats support Mr. Biden, compared to 16 percent who preferred Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT).
Sen. Kamala Harris (CA), who announced her intent to campaign for the presidency on Monday, came in at a distant third place, with just 9 percent of the Democratic constituency favoring her candidacy.
Biden takes the lead
While Sen. Harris discussed her political future on ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday, Biden spent the day reflecting on his past at the National Action Network’s Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast in Washington.
“I haven’t always been right,” he admitted. “I know we haven’t always gotten things right, but I’ve always tried.”
Although Biden hasn’t yet declared his intent to run against a crowded field of Democratic contenders, he promised to make his plans clear before the end of January. The two-term vice president has remained the front-runner in a variety of early polls, and he has even returned respectable numbers from swing voters and establishment Republicans opposed to the Trump administration.
The Morning Consult/Politico poll surveyed 1,996 registered voters from Jan. 18 to Jan. 22 and found that Biden’s popularity among Democrats transcends age and gender. Generation X-ers and Baby Boomers support him, and both men and women would prefer Biden in the Oval Office before his closest contender, the indefatigable Sen. Sanders.
Moreover, Biden, who is four years older than President Trump, has dismissed criticism that his advanced age could slow him down on the campaign trail.
“I think I’m the most qualified person in the country to be president,” Biden said earlier this week in Montana. “The issues that we face as a country today are the issues that I’ve worked on my whole life – the plight of the middle class and foreign policy.”
Gaff machine to face troll-in-chief
The former Delaware senator has been a stern and persistent critic of the current commander-in-chief, and he never misses an opportunity to fulminate against Trump.
“I may be a gaff machine,” Biden said, referring to his propensity for foul language and insensitive comments. “But my God, what a wonderful thing compared to a guy who can’t tell the truth. No one doubts what I say. The problem is I sometimes say all that I mean.”
Indeed, Biden has a reputation for being obtusely frank in many situations. After the Obama administration approved a $900 billion stimulus package in 2009, he told House Democrats that “there’s still a 30 percent chance we’re going to get it wrong.”
Biden has a reputation for being tone-deaf and racially insensitive, as well. “You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent,” he said of his home state of Delaware in 2006. “I’m not joking.”
And referring to his future running mate in 2007, Biden said of Obama: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
If Biden’s star remains in ascension, there will be plenty of opportunities for the self-described “gaff machine” to self-destruct. And with a seasoned troll-in-chief on the other side of the aisle, Biden is sure to give the Democratic Party chronic heartburn throughout the 2020 election season.
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