It now appears there is little rationale left for Joe Biden to enter the Democratic primary. The question of how Hillary would do with the attacks on her from Republicans over her e-mails and Benghazi are all being answered in her favor.
The Benghazi Committee is being shown up for what most knew it was from the beginning: a get Clinton committee. Now Republican Majority leader Kevin McCarthy (R- CA), who may have lost his chance to become Speaker of the House of Representatives for his honesty, and Richard Hanna (R-NY) have both said the purpose of the committee is to get Clinton. The validity of what this committee first claimed they were out to do has gone by the wayside. A clear waste of over $4 million of taxpayer money.
During the Democratic debate Clinton's major competitor, Bernie Sanders, handed her a gift and basically took away another issue Biden thought he could challenge her on. He did this when he said to Hillary after an Anderson Cooper question on her emails, "I am tired of hearing about your damn emails, it's time to talk about the real issues." That got a great response from the crowd and a thank you and handshake from Hillary. It prompted Martin O'Malley to agree the e-mail issue wasn't what anyone wanted to talk about.
So one must question why Joe Biden would want to enter this race other than living up to a quote "The only cure for presidential fever is embalming fluid" first attributed to Harold Ickes, U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1933 to 1946, describing the presidential aspirations of New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. If he wanted to run he should have done what Clinton, Sanders, O'Malley, Webb and Chafee did and announce and take his message to the people. Biden didn't do that and now there is no reason to believe his message, whatever it would be, has a path to victory.
In the debate Hillary successfully took on the mantel as the person who can best ensure Barack Obama's legacy. Sanders is the ultra-left self-described democratic socialist who is exciting the young college crowd. Biden has a 40-year legislative record which doesn't allow him much room to navigate away from it and he is totally tied to President Obama for good or bad on issues. So even if he wanted to join the race late and could have figured out a raison d'etre for doing so, the time was during the summer months before it was clear Benghazi and her emails would not be a big deal for Democratic voters. Should he join the race now, judging from all the polls, he would look like the guy out to stop the Democrats from nominating the first woman President of the United States.
So what does Biden do and how does he keep his legacy alive? The way to do that could be to endorse Hillary as the best person for the job and who would become the nation's first woman President.
Hillary is the overwhelming choice of Democratic Party officials across the nation. People that Biden has worked with his whole career. Those super-delegates including Senators, Congresspersons, Governors, State Legislators and Mayors have overwhelmingly come out in support of Hillary. They understand if the Party is to take back the Senate having her at the top of the ticket is the best way to accomplish that. Add to that Democratic primary voters are giving her big leads in every poll and every state except New Hampshire, a neighboring state to Vermont where Sanders is from.
Being a politician it is understandable Biden hoped Hillary would falter and those elected officials across the nation would switch their allegiance to him en masse. But after Tuesday's debate and the anticipated outcome of Hillary's appearance in front of the much maligned Benghazi Committee that is no longer a realistic scenario. So Biden needs to make a move and the logical one is to say he has decided not to run for President and use the reason he has already gone on television to explain saying he is not emotionally ready to do it and doesn't want to put his family through this so soon after losing his son.
Then he should take the next logical step which would be an endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Her election would guarantee his and President Obama's legacy and allow him to play any future role he would like in government. She would owe him big-time and that is always a good thing in politics. Joe Biden is now a beloved and respected elder statesman in the Democratic Party. Leaving elected politics is always difficult, but he is a big enough man to do it with class.