Is the third time really a charm? A new Gallup poll has found former Vice President Joe Biden holds an 80% favorable rating and 9% unfavorable rating among Democrats. He is at the top of all other potential 2020 presidential Democratic candidates. Will he make a third run for the Oval Office?
Biden has been the polling frontrunner throughout the early stages of the 2020 Democratic primary. But some believe that there are many reasons why this advantage won’t stand up.
Biden has to deal with his record: Biden opposed busing to integrate schools in the 1970s, didn’t call witnesses to back up Anita Hill during her testimony at the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and voted for the Iraq War. Based on his voting record in congress, he is the most moderate of all the 2020 candidates.
And this is a problem for Biden because the Democratic electorate is moving to the left. Democrats have become a lot more liberal over the last 25 years.
But the reason this may not matter is that Democrats like Biden because he was the vice president to the most popular Democrat in the country, Barack Obama. His best chance for winning is to merely focus on his most recent record. Biden can point voters to his time as Obama’s VP.
Obama is 7 points more popular with Democrats than Trump is among Republicans.Democrats are more likely to identify as an “Obama Democrat” than they are with any ideological identification. In fact, more Democrats call themselves an “Obama Democrat” than call themselves a “liberal Democrat,” “progressive” or “Democratic Socialist”.
What the polls indicate is that the 2020 Democratic nominee is likely to be someone who can best say they are continuing the legacy of the Obama administration and building on its success.
That may very well be Biden’s best not so secret weapon. He has a good claim to the Obama mantle, and it’s a big reason why Biden is a formidable 2020 candidate.
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