http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/260528/biden-im-campaigning-not-running-daniel-greenfieldBiden: I'm Campaigning, But Not Running
Who goes on talk shows to talk about how he won't run?
After repeatedly attacking Hillary Clinton, Biden's non-campaign took an odder turn as he joined Obama in the Rose Garden to announce that he wouldn't be running for president.
But also he would go on campaigning. “Though I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent," Biden said, and then spoke about the Obama legacy, making it clear that he intends to campaign in the same strange sort of way.
That was followed by an extended campaign pitch, right along with Biden dubbing himself "Middle Class Joe" and delivering a stump speech about free college education, gay rights and illegal alien amnesty.
Like claiming that "Middle Class Joe" is also known as "the optimist", this is the sort of thing political candidates do when they're running for office. Not when they aren't running for office.
Politicians don't tend to speak about "The possibilities for a kid growing up in a poor inner-city neighborhood or the -- a Spanish-speaking home, or a kid from Mayfield in Delaware" while flanked by their wife and political ally, while committing his whole family to an extended political campaign... without running for office.
So what's going on here?
Some might view this as the Clintons successfully negotiating a withdrawal of their biggest threat. But it's doubtful that Biden dropped out of the campaign because of a few media stories about him changing his mind on the Bin Laden raid. Biden has survived much worse exposures of his duplicity. You can view it as another deal between the Clintons and Obama. That much is plausible.
Does Biden's announcement end his campaign? Not really. People don't deliver Rose Garden statements accompanied by the guy in the White House to explain that they're not running. They do it to draw attention to themselves.
And Obama's presence means that whatever this is, it has his backing.
The whole premise of Biden's campaign is not that he would announce that he was running, but that he would be begged to run. So instead of a traditional candidate's pre-campaign, Biden kept talking about how difficult it would be for him to run.
He went on late night talk shows to talk about how painful it would be for him to campaign because of his son's death. Who goes on talk shows to talk about how he won't run? The same guy who delivers a Rose Garden address about how it would be too emotionally difficult for him to run.
The real message is just the opposite Biden wants to run. He's met with top donors and political power brokers. He got Obama's blessing to run. He's been doing a regular pre-campaign tour. He's doing everything a normal candidate would do... while announcing he's not running.
If Hillary had flamed out during the debate, maybe Biden would have just entered the race like a normal candidate. But he would have too many barriers to overcome.
Instead Biden keeps waiting in the wings to be asked to run as a savior when Hillary is dragged under. Elizabeth Warren played this same game badly. Biden is playing it better. But unless the White House can bring her down, its gamble isn't going to work.
Biden is not generating any real enthusiasm. His obnoxious exploitation of his son's death for political purposes is getting on people's nerves. He needs to be seen as a viable alternative to Hillary without actually running against her.
The only basis for a Biden candidacy is the complete failure of the Hillary 2016 campaign. And I'm not sure what would do that barring an indictment or really damaging material from the FBI.
Biden spoke about Obama's legacy. The question is how far Obama is willing to go to protect his legacy even if that means fighting a Democratic Party civil war with the Clintons. Because the leaks have hurt Hillary badly as a candidate, but not enough for Biden to announce.
His Rose Garden statement implicitly positions his candidacy as a 'savior' moment for a Hillary collapse. Either he knows such a collapse is coming or he and Obama are gambling on it.
Who wants to start a betting pool on when he announces his campaign?
Topic: Biden campaigns in political rally to say he's not running (Read 479 times)