To the surprise of very few people, Joe Biden announced his campaign “officially” on Thursday. As is common in the modern era, the event was announced via a Tweet and a video, a favorite tactic among the 20 current candidates in the overcrowded Democratic field.
But looking at some of the evidence leading up to Biden’s announcement along with the current political and cultural landscape, it’s highly likely that Biden is launching his campaign as nothing more than self-serving media tour since he knows he has no chance of actually winning the nomination.
Earlier this week reports started coming out from Biden staff insiders that his campaign was was in a complete state of confusion. Reports of poor communication internally and a lack of a cohesive sense of purpose seemed to be the norm. In other words, it sounds like the campaign is already off to a half-hearted effort.
Someone like Biden who has been in politics for decades and has already been part of a successful Presidential run should know exactly what it takes to run a successful campaign. The fact that at this early stage the campaign seems to be cobbled together suggests he has no real interest in running to win. Instead, he’s going to cruise on his name recognition and use the campaign process as a media tour to bolster his image (and subsequent speaking fees).
Next is the fact that Biden already knew that Obama would not formerly support him during the nomination process. The fact that a Vice President does not have the support of his former boss when he runs for President makes the effort an almost total waste.
Imagine if Reagan didn’t support George H.W. Bush when he ran for President in 1989 and instead said he wanted to wait until the all the candidates were sorted out? Of course, Bush ran immediately after Reagan’s two terms, but it’s still very strange for a Vice President not to have the explicit support of his former running-mate.
As I’ve written about before, Biden being a “old white guy” pretty much tanks any chance he has of winning the nomination in the current identity-obsessed Democratic party. Not only that, the fact that Obama doesn’t support Biden at this state suggests that Obama already has someone they will be fighting for behind the scenes. Biden is a savvy enough politician to know this, so he is very well aware his campaign will be unsuccessful without Obama’s immediate support.
So the fact that he’s running anyway means his only goal is to raise money and raise his own profile. He could care less about the Democratic party or the nomination process. He doesn’t mind muscling his way in on the crowded field on name recognition only and upsetting the process for his own benefit.
This is one final self-serving parade for Biden who probably feels as though he’s “earned it” after a lifetime in politics and deserves one last swan song.
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