Biden’s Candidacy Changes Dynamic Of Democratic Presidential Race

It became official last week as former vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden joined the extremely crowded field in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

Some Democrats still wish (and probably wonder) why Biden did not run in 2016. Many believe if he had then he could have and would have defeated Donald Trump. We’ll never know about that potential race in 2016 but we may get to see how it turns out in 2020.

Biden clearly is not a perfect candidate. He ran for president many years ago but was really not a factor. His recent personal tragedy is something people can relate to and clearly he is better suited to be president now than he was when he first ran.

He is either first or second in most polls in the Democratic race along with Bernie Sanders. South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigeig is also in the top three having made a somewhat surprising surge to the upper level of the pack.

There are many miles to go in this race but it will be interesting to see if Democratic voters go with an elder statesman like Biden or Sanders or with a fresh, new and young candidate like Buttigeig. There are also several females seeking the Democratic nomination as well as African-Americans.

Polling: A Zogby Analytics poll from mid-April shows potential general election matchups in Wisconsin. In a contest between Biden and President Trump the former vice-president leads by 10 points. Sanders lead the race with Trump the Vermont Senator leads by seven points.

Elizabeth Warren, whose presidential campaign has not gained a lot of traction, leads by six points against the President.

A poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire showed President Trump with a healthy primary lead with 76 percent of the vote in the GOP primary next year.

Bill Weld, the only declared primary opponent, is at five percent. The former Massachusetts governor is focusing on that state so it would not be surprising to see him gain a higher percentage in upcoming months.

Ohio’s John Kasich polled 10 percent in the poll but he has not entered the race.

Join the race: Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton has thrown his hat in the Democratic ring for the presidential primary in 2020 as has Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan.

That brings the total to a mind-boggling 22 on the Democratic side in terms of upper tier candidates.

Ballot access in Arkansas: Recently the state legislature in Arkansas rapidly pushed through an “emergency bill.”

The “emergency” had nothing to do with a weather disaster but rather Republicans found it necessary to make it nearly three times more difficult for third parties or independents to get on the ballot.

It’s amazing how both major parties don’t want competition. Members of these parties often seek ways to make it more difficult for others to be on the ballot. After all, we wouldn’t want voters to have more choices it seems.

Ohio is another state where Republicans have worked to keep Libertarians (and others) off the ballot.

It’s odd because Republicans talk about how they believe in competition and open market. Time and time again, however, their actions speak much louder than their words.

Political quote of the week: “I’m not going to launch some kind of suicide mission—I have a real job that’s important to me, for the people of Maryland­—unless I thought there was a path to victory.

These words come from Maryland governor Larry Hogan on the prospects of challenging President Trump in the Republican primary.

Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He has earned awards for his columns from the National Newspaper Association, the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Sports Writers Association. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.