Opinion editorial by WBZ NewsRadio political analyst Jon Keller
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — I don’t know if he’s going to win his party’s nomination, but former Vice President Joe Biden is putting on quite the display of hanging in there.
The polls consistently show Biden as the Democratic frontrunner, competitive in both Iowa and New Hampshire, running stronger in South Carolina. Which is amazing, because he’s looked awfully wobbly at times.
Remember the first debate last June, where Kamala Harris dressed him down and Biden wound up blurting “my time is up” into the camera, an instant attack line for his critics. One bigtime DC operative told me that’s night: “he’s all done.”
Later, I saw him on a CNN climate-change forum skip a chance to empathize with a women who had lost a child during Hurricane Sandy. Talk about stepping on your brand.
But Biden’s endurance has won him at least a moment of positive spin, where columnists marvel at his appeal, which, like a dog whistle, escapes them.
I think I can explain: not everybody wants something newer, younger, edgier. Not for president in general, and especially not now.
Biden got a lucky break yesterday when the right’s number 1A liberal villain in America after Nancy Pelosi, left-wing Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who backs Bernie Sanders, gave Biden a quote he can use to blunt Trump attacks if he makes it to the final: “In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party.”
Enjoy it, Joe. And remember: it’s better to be lucky than good.
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You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday mornings at :55 minutes past the hour. Listen to his previous podcasts on iHeartRadio.