Joe Biden may be a huge target, but nobody’s knocked him out yet
By most reckonings, Joe Biden has had several pretty lousy months.
His fundraising has been unimpressive. His performance in debates has ranged from poor to middling. He has repeatedly demonstrated his penchant for putting a foot where his molars should be.
Despite all that, and efforts by President Donald Trump to darken his family name, Biden will be front and center once more when Democrats return to the debate stage Tuesday night, reflecting his continued standing at or near the top of the 2020 field.
Part of the reason can be explained by the Rev. Joseph Darby of South Carolina. The state, with an early primary, is key to Biden’s campaign.
“People have known him for a while,” said Darby, senior pastor of Nichols Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston and first vice president of the local NAACP. “He projects an air of stability. All of that helps him.”
As for the president’s attempts to paint Biden as corrupt, “I don’t think anybody’s even talking about the accusations, and I suspect it’s because Donald Trump lies like a rug,” Darby said.
After months of jostling, the presidential race has entered an important new phase, as Biden faces a surging Elizabeth Warren; Bernie Sanders seeks to recover, physically and politically, from a recent heart attack; and the rest of the stillcrowded field fights for a way to be heard over the cacophony around Trump’s possible impeachment.
A dozen candidates are set to take the stage Tuesday in Ohio – the most ever in a presidential debate – for one of their last nationally televised gatherings before the holiday season starts and most voters take a break from politics.
No one has more at stake than Biden, who started the race in April as one of the most precarious frontrunners in modern times and has since offered friends and allies ample reason for concern.
“It’s his race to lose,” said David Axelrod, a top strategist for the Obama-biden presidential ticket, who remains neutral in the Democratic contest. “And a lot of people who support him are frightened he just might find a way to do it.”
Biden brings a unique set of assets and liabilities to his third try for the White House.
He is regarded with respect and deep affection by many Democrats, especially older, more moderate voters and elders in the African American community who appreciate his faithful service alongside President Barack Obama.
“I describe it as favorability and ‘flavorability’ when it comes to the political nerve center of this party,” said Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist in South Carolina. By that, Seawright meant a mutual bond with black voters who, he said, view the former vice president as “Uncle Joe,” “Mr. Relatable” and “Mr. Reliable.”
He suggested Trump’s incessant sniping at Biden might even help his candidacy. “You don’t attack what you don’t fear,” Seawright said.
But at 76 years old, Biden faces persistent questions about his age and acuity that have only heightened as the campaign wears on.
Sanders’ heart attack – the Vermont senator is only about a year older than Biden – has made health and stamina a more pertinent issue for the septuagenarians in the race, which includes Massachusetts Sen. Warren. (She turned 70 in June.)
At the same time, Trump’s attacks on Biden over his vice presidential dealings with Ukraine have renewed doubts about the Democrat’s political instincts and agility.
He waited more than a week before delivering a speech angrily denouncing the president for falsely claiming Biden intervened in Ukraine on behalf of his son Hunter, who served on the board of a Kyiv natural gas company. Biden’s call days later for Trump’s impeachment came long after most other candidates had staked that position.
Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., said Biden was too slow to shed his gentlemanly demeanor and, now that he has, needs to keep it up. “People want to see you fighting for them,” said Clyburn, who has chaperoned numerous candidates through his home state, which Biden is counting on should he fare poorly in the opening contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.