ALL ABOUT JOE:
Declared Dems make their case as VP eyes run
At the Democratic National Committee meeting in Minneapolis, much of the talk was about whether Vice President Joe Biden would decide to run for president.
MINNEAPOLIS — It was a meeting of Democrats, their heroes, their hopes and their neuroses.
All were there under one roof but one — Vice President Joe Biden, whose deliberations over making a late entry in the presidential race injected unexpected intrigue into the Democratic National Committee meeting in Minneapolis this week. Front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign found itself working aggressively to show off its strength to rivals both current and potential and quietly reassuring Democrats that she was capable of moving past the controversies that have dogged her campaign.
“We are building something that will last long after next November,” Clinton said to party stalwarts Friday.
Although she cast herself as the next in line for the party’s nomination, the will-he-won’t-he speculation over Biden exposed lingering divisions and doubts about Clinton’s bid. There were progressives who’ve aligned behind Sen. Bernie Sanders’ candidacy and see no need for Biden as another Clinton alternative. There were the longtime Barack Obama partisans who remain wary of Clinton. There were folks newly frustrated with Clinton’s handling of questions about her use of a private email server as secretary of state and talk of needing a Biden escape hatch if things did not improve. And there were Clinton loyalists who want to move on.
“It makes people anxious,” said former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Clinton supporter. “It’s a fight we don’t want to see happen. For many of us, it would be like if your two children wanted the same job. It would be gutwrenching.”
While Biden deliberates, Clinton’s campaign made clear it’s locking down resources, talent and support — effectively boxing out Biden before he’s in the game. Clinton teams held a briefing for delegates where it outlined her strengths in the states with the first nominating contests — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — and pushed superdelegates to commit to Clinton early. Campaign manager Robby Mook told supporters how they would approach a Biden bid.
“If he gets in the race, we’ll respect him in the race,” Alice Huffman, a California superdelegate, said in summarizing Mook’s message. “But we’re going to win.”
Clinton said the early rush to lock in delegate support was a lesson from the 2008 primary.
“I got a lot of votes,” she told reporters of the heated primary against Obama. “But I didn’t get enough delegates. I think it’s understandable that my focus is going to be on delegates.”
Clinton, of course, already has a primary fight to worry about. Sanders’ rise in the polls in New Hampshire and ability to draw large crowds has given Clinton more of a fight than many expected. On Friday, Sanders argued that only he could bring Democratic voters to the polls in numbers needed to win.
“Democrats will not retain the White House … unless we generate excitement and momentum and produce a huge voter turnout,” Sanders told the crowd. “That turnout, that enthusiasm will not happen with politics as usual.”
But it’s clear Democrats here view a Clinton-Biden primary fight differently. It would divide the party not along clear ideological lines, as Sanders’ bid does, but between personalities. It could become about Clinton’s weaknesses as a candidate — her history and her trouble winning white working-class voters.
Not all feel the sense of dread. A battle of ideas might be useful, some argued. Some drama might reclaim some of the spotlight stolen by the raucous Republican primary.
A more competitive primary could make Clinton a better candidate, if she uses it to speak more directly about the troubles that have led some to go looking for another candidate. Clinton’s use of a personal email account for government business and her handling of questions over the release of those emails is viewed by some Democrats as a selfinflicted wound and one that can only be repaired by straight talk from the candidate herself. She took a step in that direction Wednesday, acknowledging that using the private email was “clearly not the best choice.”
On Friday, she made no mention of the emails in her remarks, but did mock GOP candidate Donald Trump.
“And if anyone wonders if mine is real, here is the answer,” she said. “The hair is real; the color is not.”
Other candidates won their own applause lines. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley drew cheers for his passionate tirade against the party – and his limited debate schedule, which he says is rigged to favor Clinton.
“How does this help us tell the story of the last eight years of Democratic progress?” he asked.
Ex-Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee addressed the group, noting that he was free of “scandal,” a comment he later said was not directed at Clinton.
Sanders, too, avoided confrontation with the front-runner and managed to deflect when asked about the topic of the week.
“I’ve been asked that about 14 million times,” Sanders said when asked for his thoughts on Biden.