This is the Democrat Trump apparently fears most
With the dawn of 2018, midterm elections are looming on the horizon. And even though they’re still two years away, politicians have already begun to consider the 2020 election. In a January 15th feature in Politico, President Donald Trump’s team sized up their potential competitors — and there’s one Democrat Trump fears most.
Trump has reportedly dismissed many likely competitors as non-threatening. The president told one Republican that 76-year-old Senator Bernie Sanders probably wouldn’t have the energy to run. Senator Elizabeth Warren, another progressive favorite, would be “easy to beat.”
But when it came to former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump and his allies had different thoughts. One former White House official told Politico that Biden’s “mainstream appeal” and ability to relate to working-class voters would make him able to compete for Trump’s base.
The Trump team’s concern about Biden makes sense. He certainly has the experience to challenge Trump. Prior to his eight years with President Barack Obama, he served in the Senate for 36 years. Biden was a vocal supporter of gay marriage — even before Obama — and he spoke out in defense of the Affordable Care Act in July, when Republicans were trying to repeal it.
The former vice president even beats Trump in a hypothetical match-up. A Politico/Morning Consult poll in November found that if the two ran against each other in 2020, Biden would beat Trump by 11 percentage points. (For what it’s worth, a different poll found that Oprah could also beat Trump in the election.)
Biden has not said that he will run for president in 2020, but he also hasn’t ruled it out. On The View in December, the politician said that he would consider putting together a campaign if no one else takes up the mantle.
“If, in a year from now, if we’re ready and no one has moved in that I think can do it, then I may very well do it,” he said.
It’s fun to fantasize about who our next president could be, but we really don’t know if Biden will be on the ballot two years from now. We’d love to see America’s uncle run for president, but it would also be amazing for a woman or person of color to assume leadership of the left. We’ll be waiting with bated breath to see who runs in 2020.
