The Democratic nomination is all but locked up for former Vice President Joe Biden. Last night’s 11th Democratic Debate was Senator Bernie Sanders’ last chance to cast enough doubt on Biden that primary voters felt uncomfortable with him taking on President Trump in the general election and he failed to do that.
Biden’s overall performance was terrible, but he maintained composure and lucidity for the most part. There were times when he seemed to get agitated, especially when Sanders called him out over his past support for cutting social security. He seemed lost at times; during a ten-second span he confused the coronavirus, SARS, and swine flu. But those minor flubs and short flash of anger weren’t enough to derail him.
Sanders needed nothing short of a derailment from Biden to get back in the race, and Biden didn’t take the bait. Moreover, Sanders had a mediocre performance by his standards, barely coming out on top or performing equally as badly as Biden by most commentators’ reckoning.
It’s time for Republicans to prepare for a Biden nomination. Thankfully, they did get some juice from the debate as Biden made several mistakes that will not endear him to Independent voters. He declared an end to drilling, effectively claiming to be prepared to reduce our fossil fuel superiority or subvert it completely. He also noted that he would pick a female running mate rather than the most qualified person for the job. Former candidate Andrew Yang seemed to take exception to that.
Wow Joe just committed to a woman as VP. I like it. Though he didn’t mention that to me when we spoke. ?
— Andrew Yang? (@AndrewYang) March 16, 2020
Nevertheless, Biden did just enough to stave off any lingering doubts of his ability to carry the nomination. Sanders will likely need to drop out soon or he and his supporters will be bombarded by ridicule from the DNC. It’s already happening to some extent, yet the #NeverBiden crowd among Sanders supporters seems to be getting more vocal, if not outright growing.
Joe Biden’s debate performance was embarrassing and nonsensical, but he held it together just enough to not lose the voters necessary to secure the nomination. The GOP must focus on him as Democrats are clearly choosing senility over socialism.
