Eugene Robinson: If Biden is toast, why's he still so far ahead?

[wyldwolf]

If Joe Biden is toast, why is he still so far ahead in all the polls?

According to the conventional wisdom, Biden’s shaky performance in last month’s debate stripped the cloak of inevitability from his candidacy and wrapped it around … somebody else. Maybe Sen. Kamala D. Harris or Sen. Elizabeth Warren, crowned as winners of that debate by the conventionally wise. Maybe somebody else who will somehow spring out of single-digit limbo into the sunlight. Anybody but Biden.

So then why is Biden still leading the polls, both nationally and in the battleground states? According to the RealClearPolitics polling averages, he has nearly twice the support nationally of his nearest rivals, Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders. He also holds substantial leads in the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina...

... The way I see it, this race is still Biden’s to lose. He’s capable of doing so, to be sure, but the idea that his lead has somehow evaporated is false. One lousy debate outing didn’t doom President Barack Obama’s reelection effort in 2012. Neither has Biden’s lion-in-winter campaign been derailed...

Firing upon Trump is my advice to all the Democratic candidates this Tuesday and Wednesday. The party faithful are looking for a fighter — someone who will focus less on quibbling among fellow Democrats (or even on detailing their policy proposals) and more on unshrinkingly calling out the president’s racism, misogyny and xenophobia. Democratic voters are in a mood to be rallied. Why not oblige them?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/07/26/if-biden-is-toast-whys-he-still-so-far-ahead/

[Thekaspervote]

1. I have always just loved Eugene Robinson!

[W_HAMILTON]

2. Me too! And the Democratic candidates would be wise to take his advice.

[Kahuna7]

6. Me three! nt

[highplainsdem]

3. He's absolutely right. K&R

[Gothmog]

4. Joe Biden is the most electable candidate that the Democratic Party has available

[peggysue2]

5. Excellent advice from Eugene Robinson

Plus, I love the 'lion in winter' descriptor.

Go get 'em, Joe!

[Skya Rhen]

7. Follow the leader...

[bluewater]

8. The simple answer is 4-5 other candidates are dividing up the rest of the voters.

Biden has support of ~29% of the voters. The Other 71% is divided up between the rest of the candidates and undecideds.

That will not be the case once actual voting starts.

Then the field will be thinned out and voters will start casting their ballots strategically to meet the 15% threshold to be assigned delegates and to support a favorite candidate they feel has the best chance to win a particular primary.



When the race boils down to just 2-3 candidates, the dynamics will become much clearer.

[Hekate]

9. Damn right.Biden won my heart with his opening ad about Charlottsville nazis & the soul of America

The very next morning Virginia Heffernan -- who I had not seen before -- had an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times informing us that this message was just so yesterday, and worse, that because of the reference to 1930s Germany, was just so WWII and therefore had no resonance to anyone born after (implied) about 1960.

I was infuriated, but then, I am 70 and I still have some shred of hope that not every younger voter is a complete moron.

So thanks for this from Gene Robinson. I want my candidate to go after Trump, guns blazing, rtf now.

[Cha]

10. Never heard "Biden is toast" but then

I don't have a tv so I can't listen to ******* stupid pundits!

[Kahuna7]

11. Twitter....

[wyldwolf]

12. Reports of his toastiness have been greatly exaggerated

https://theblacksphere.net/2019/06/post-debate-wrap-up-biden-is-toast/

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2019/06/29/biden_is_toast--and_so_is_the_party_of_open_borders_479003.html

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/06/is-joe-biden-toast/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/greg-gutfeld-biden-toast-after-latest-campaign-hiccup

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/8/joe-bidens-presidential-candidacy-is-toast-after-o/

https://theresurgent.com/2019/04/02/joe-biden-is-toast/

[Cha]

13. omg.. don't hang out at

any of the places. lol

Oh, Mother Jones.. you got it wrong!

Yeah I would imagine, especially the wash times, would like to see Joe Biden as "toast.

[helpisontheway]

14. All they are doing is damaging him for the general election...I understand that every single

person in the race thinks they are the best person for the job. Only one will win. Why try to destroy other democrats? Especially the one that is far ahead? Especially the one that has the best shot at winning the primary...Why not highlight your differences? Why not show why you are a better option? Why imply that fellow democrats are racists? They are desperate and it is sad. All they are doing is giving Trump more things to use in the general election. Just as Sanders did in 2016. The goal should be to make sure that man is a one term president.