Ken Berwitz
The wheels haven\’t come off Hillary Rodham Clinton\’s busquite yet, but they\’re getting wobblier. Hence the Joe Biden boomlet. As acolumnist, never mind as a conservative, I think it\’s a fantastic idea. (ABiden vs. Trump debate would cause a national popcorn shortage.) But is Bidenreally the answer to the Democrats\’ problem?
That depends.
As with any malady, the right treatment hinges on the correctdiagnosis. You don\’t recommend better diet and exercise for a shark bite. Bidenis a treatment for one symptom, not the whole disease.
Some Democrats believe the secret-email-server story isdriving everything, and if she can just get that behind her, all will be well.But more people are starting to recognize that the email story is a symptom ofClinton\’s bigger problems. If she had the political skills or charisma toexplain her way out of this mess, she would have done so already. She doesn\’tand she hasn\’t.
But Clinton\’s problems are also indicative of the Democrats\’more systemic challenges. Specifically that Barack Obama is a deeply polarizingfigure who has been fairly disastrous for his party.
“No president in modern times has presided over sodisastrous a stretch for his party, at almost every level of politics,”Jeff Greenfield wrote in Politico. “It\’s almost a crime,” DemocraticParty Vice Chair Donna Brazile told Greenfield. “We have been absolutelydecimated at the state and local level.”
Obama\’s presidency has been the most consistently polarizingin the history of modern polling.
The same political party rarely wins three presidentialelections in a row, and when it does, it is only when the country is satisfiedwith the party\’s direction and the incumbent is popular.
And the solution to these problems is … Joe Biden, the72-year-old sitting vice president who ran unsuccessfully for the job twice?Really?
