Why Joe Biden Won't Run For President

Vice President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he would not run for president, ending an 80 day period of  public conjecture. After the CNN broadcast of the inauguration of Hillary Clinton, also known as the Democratic debate, the door for Biden’s entrance became increasing smaller.

With much of the left able to laugh off  tales of murdered ambassadors and compromising national security on a private email server, Hillary has remained the strongest candidate, the only possible Democratic successor to President Obama. For Biden, there was simply no role he could play in the proceedings.

“Unfortunately, I believe we’re out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination,” Mr. Biden said. “But while I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent.” That promise to not be silent certainly goes without saying.

If a Democratic voter wants a “progressive” who is incapable of foreign policy – something apparently appealing for Democratic voters – they can have Hillary. If they want a candidate who honeymooned in the USSR and envies Denmark and their 80% income tax, they have Sanders. If they happen to like inanimate objects, there are two such candidates to choose from. There simply is no space at the table for another progressive leaning centrist like Biden.

“If we had gotten in the race over the summer, I can almost guarantee you that we would’ve swept the South and made this into a two-person primary,” gloated Biden in his rose garden speech.

Despite Biden’s flaws, he has never had a consistent propensity to attract scandals, nor is he an unabashed socialist. Given those facts, he probably would have made a better candidate than Clinton or Sanders. But for now, many Biden supporters say it’s their time to grieve.