Or not. Most likely not. If you have been paying attention to the major news networks, the comedy late-night shows, or opened a social media platform in the past few weeks, you may have been fooled into believing that former Vice President Joe Biden had already won the Democratic Party's nomination. He hasn't; yet.
Is Joe Biden going to be the Democrat's choice to take on President Trump in 2020? It's highly likely; more likely than not, in fact. I know the opening sentence of this piece may seem misleading, but I assure you it's not. I do believe that if Biden successfully survives the primary season without too many gaffes or mishaps, he will easily win the party's nomination. He's an establishment Democrat with a hell of a resume, he's been running for President since 1969, and he is well known among uninterested voters. I do not believe that it will be an ultimate showdown as the media portrays.
We get it: Joe Biden is old, Donald Trump is old, Bernie Sanders is old; who cares? Trump is not only the first reality television star to win the Presidency, he's also the oldest President to have been elected to the office. Americans do not care how old their President is. They are not looking for a young President like Peter Buttigieg nor are they looking for an old President. Age played less of a factor in 2016 than it had in 2008 and 2012. I imagine that the 2020 election will not be decided on a number.
Biden doesn't even appear to be campaigning against the other 20-something candidates; he's targeting Trump. He knows that his chances at the party's nomination are really good where he stands. It would be foolish for his campaign to waste valuable resources attacking candidates who he will likely seek endorsements from after all is said and done.
The media knows this; Trump knows this; we all should know this. This is how the 2016 Democratic Party burdened Senator Sanders' chances even further as he ran his campaign. The Party already has a favorite, and Joe Biden is the party favorite. This is evident by the fact that there was hardly any speculation about Hillary Clinton making another attempt for the office. From what I have gathered, there are not any other establishment Democrats on the ticket other than Joe Biden. Essentially, Joe Biden is running unopposed in the primary just as Clinton did in 2015-2016 against Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, Lincoln Chafee, Jim Webb, and Lawrence Lessig.
Joe Biden is running unopposed unless non-establishment Democrats can untangle themselves from the web of primary-season democracy and put their support behind one candidate. If the Democrats are capable of doing this, the media will be forced to pay attention to the non-establishment party choice (as they did when Bernie was performing well in 2016), and actually give someone a fighting chance against Joe.
If the non-establishment Democrats are unable to unite their support behind one candidate, then the Trump v. Biden narrative will continue throughout the primary season, into the general election, until we have finally exhausted the narrative so much that making it through election day makes you a winner. We will likely have a Trump V. Biden showdown, but it will be boring before it even begins.
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