I'd actually disagree about 2008. That's the one time I felt Biden had it all together as a candidate: experienced enough to warrant respect, still cognitively on point, and as such, capable of communicating effectively with voters, when given a little time for a stump speech. He just never gained any traction in that primary, because Ob…
I'd actually disagree about 2008. That's the one time I felt Biden had it all together as a candidate: experienced enough to warrant respect, still cognitively on point, and as such, capable of communicating effectively with voters, when given a little time for a stump speech. He just never gained any traction in that primary, because Obama was a comet and Clinton...well, was a Clinton. This, of course, does not mean he would've been an effective President from 2008-2016, just that he was a better candidate than people gave him credit for. And this happens in crowded primaries all the time.
By even the latter half of his vice-presidency, it was very clear he had slowed down. I am not sure he could've ever gotten on a major ticket again in normal circumstances, but 2020 ended up being exactly the right environment for him, as Silver alludes to.
I'd actually disagree about 2008. That's the one time I felt Biden had it all together as a candidate: experienced enough to warrant respect, still cognitively on point, and as such, capable of communicating effectively with voters, when given a little time for a stump speech. He just never gained any traction in that primary, because Obama was a comet and Clinton...well, was a Clinton. This, of course, does not mean he would've been an effective President from 2008-2016, just that he was a better candidate than people gave him credit for. And this happens in crowded primaries all the time.
By even the latter half of his vice-presidency, it was very clear he had slowed down. I am not sure he could've ever gotten on a major ticket again in normal circumstances, but 2020 ended up being exactly the right environment for him, as Silver alludes to.