Dem’s Best Strategy for Victory in ’16: Biden Running as Incumbent

A perfect storm may be about to descend upon the Democratic Party, just in time for the 2016 presidential primaries to begin, and they have but one way of escape that leads to the Party retaining the White House: Joe Biden running as an incumbent. 

The fall of presumptive nominee and currently fading front runner Hillary Clinton has likely only begun. The spic-n-span email server recently delivered to the Department of Justice will be the first piece in a trail of evidence that, although it may not lead to indictment, could very force Clinton from the race. This would leave the Democrats with no recognizable candidate other than the socialist darling Bernie Sanders; of whom God was recently heard to remark regarding the Bern’s chances of actually getting elected, “Not in my lifetime Bernie.”

The doubts and hand-wringing of party elites led to the floating of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz as a candidate, only to have him politely yet firmly decline. We now hear rumblings that Democratic insiders are attempting to convince Al Gore to take a break from saving the planet long enough to come save the party. They do not understand the problem. Perhaps they are unwilling to actually face it.

If Hillary Clinton is either indicted or forced to quit the race due to email controversy regarding Benghazi, a gargantuan question is raised. How does the President that gave the orders respond when the Secretary of State who followed them is indicted? His response will determine whether or not the Dem’s retain the White House. With Donald Trump and Sanders raising the levels of disgust for government on both right and left to never-before-seen heights, Obama will not be able to simply pass the buck. The pleading of ignorance will offer him no excuse. 

The only response that gives the Party’s nominee a fighting chance in this We-Hate-Government environment is for Obama to take full responsibility for the entire Benghazi scenario and resign his office. This would give a strong and clear signal to the electorate that the Democratic Party does ‘get it’ and that they are the Party of responsibility and doing the right thing—regardless of how large a fiction that may or may not be. Politics is after all a game where image and impressions are everything and an Obama that ducks and hides would prove an insurmountable ‘Obamatross’ around the neck of the Democratic nominee whomever it ends up being. 

This forceful and dramatic action (in addition to actually being the right thing to do) would also position cowboy Joe Biden to come riding to the rescue on a clean, white and unscathed horse. The advantages of running as an incumbent President cannot be over stated—especially if his general election opponent is the perceived-as-thoroughly-unpresidential Mr. Trump. 

Forget Gore. If Clinton goes down, a President Biden is the best and only hope for the Democratic Party in the face of a perfect storm.

visit www.jeffreydaugherty.com for more.