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| 5 Questions That Will Determine if Joe Biden Can Succeed | 5 Questions That Will Determine if Joe Biden Can Succeed |
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| WILMINGTON, Del. — Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s entry Thursday into the sprawling Democratic primary has immediately reshaped the race, giving definition to a contest that has been defined mostly by uncertainty. Mr. Biden offers voters a household name, nearly a half-century of political experience and the implied promise of restoring the country to a less polarized, pre-Trump era. | WILMINGTON, Del. — Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s entry Thursday into the sprawling Democratic primary has immediately reshaped the race, giving definition to a contest that has been defined mostly by uncertainty. Mr. Biden offers voters a household name, nearly a half-century of political experience and the implied promise of restoring the country to a less polarized, pre-Trump era. |
| But perhaps more than any other presidential front-runner in modern history, he begins his bid confronting deep skepticism from friend and foe alike that he can capture his party’s nomination. | But perhaps more than any other presidential front-runner in modern history, he begins his bid confronting deep skepticism from friend and foe alike that he can capture his party’s nomination. |
| [Sign up for our politics newsletter and join our conversation about the 2020 presidential race.] | [Sign up for our politics newsletter and join our conversation about the 2020 presidential race.] |
| Here are five questions looming over Mr. Biden’s candidacy, the answers to which could determine whether he becomes America’s 46th president or concludes his career by losing his third bid for the White House. | Here are five questions looming over Mr. Biden’s candidacy, the answers to which could determine whether he becomes America’s 46th president or concludes his career by losing his third bid for the White House. |
| Most casual voters, even in the primary, know Mr. Biden as President Barack Obama’s vice president. But he was a senator from Delaware for 36 years before he entered the West Wing, and his record from a decidedly earlier day in Democratic politics is where his rivals for the nomination will focus their fire. He opposed busing to integrate schools, wrote a hard-line criminal justice bill and supported the Iraq War. | Most casual voters, even in the primary, know Mr. Biden as President Barack Obama’s vice president. But he was a senator from Delaware for 36 years before he entered the West Wing, and his record from a decidedly earlier day in Democratic politics is where his rivals for the nomination will focus their fire. He opposed busing to integrate schools, wrote a hard-line criminal justice bill and supported the Iraq War. |
| Most immediately, Mr. Biden will have to decide how to respond to new critical comments by Anita Hill, the law professor who in 1991 accused Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Mr. Biden recently called her, according to an aide, to express regrets that he did not do more for her when he presided over her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. | Most immediately, Mr. Biden will have to decide how to respond to new critical comments by Anita Hill, the law professor who in 1991 accused Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Mr. Biden recently called her, according to an aide, to express regrets that he did not do more for her when he presided over her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. |
| But she told The New York Times that the call left her deeply unsatisfied, and that she did not consider it an apology. She said she is not convinced that Mr. Biden truly accepts the harm he caused her and other women. | But she told The New York Times that the call left her deeply unsatisfied, and that she did not consider it an apology. She said she is not convinced that Mr. Biden truly accepts the harm he caused her and other women. |
| It remains unclear what his broader strategy will be for handling scrutiny from the press and bombardments from his Democratic opponents along with a legion of left-wing critics who want to defeat his candidacy and ward off any return to a more moderate brand of liberalism. | It remains unclear what his broader strategy will be for handling scrutiny from the press and bombardments from his Democratic opponents along with a legion of left-wing critics who want to defeat his candidacy and ward off any return to a more moderate brand of liberalism. |
| Mr. Biden’s supporters hope Mr. Obama offers him something of a halo. Many in Mr. Biden’s orbit hope that rather than litigate every criticism about his Senate record, he restrains himself and focuses on his partnership with the country’s first black president. | Mr. Biden’s supporters hope Mr. Obama offers him something of a halo. Many in Mr. Biden’s orbit hope that rather than litigate every criticism about his Senate record, he restrains himself and focuses on his partnership with the country’s first black president. |
| The message from Mr. Biden’s announcement video was urgent and unmistakable: President Trump’s tenure amounts to a national emergency and defeating him is essential to America’s survival. Framing the campaign this way does not just make 2020 a referendum on the president, it also offers Mr. Biden a rationale for why Democrats should put forward a septuagenarian in the winter of his political life. This is not, he is arguing, yet another nomination clash in one more presidential campaign. | The message from Mr. Biden’s announcement video was urgent and unmistakable: President Trump’s tenure amounts to a national emergency and defeating him is essential to America’s survival. Framing the campaign this way does not just make 2020 a referendum on the president, it also offers Mr. Biden a rationale for why Democrats should put forward a septuagenarian in the winter of his political life. This is not, he is arguing, yet another nomination clash in one more presidential campaign. |
| [Check out our tracker of the 2020 Democratic candidate field.] | [Check out our tracker of the 2020 Democratic candidate field.] |
| But so far, it has sure seemed that way. Even the candidates who believe that Mr. Trump should be impeached are not eager to discuss the president or why he should be removed from office. The race has mostly focused on their policy ideas, biographies and how to accommodate a party drifting left. Before Mr. Biden’s announcement, the campaign was animated this week by a debate over whether prisoners should be allowed to vote. | But so far, it has sure seemed that way. Even the candidates who believe that Mr. Trump should be impeached are not eager to discuss the president or why he should be removed from office. The race has mostly focused on their policy ideas, biographies and how to accommodate a party drifting left. Before Mr. Biden’s announcement, the campaign was animated this week by a debate over whether prisoners should be allowed to vote. |
| Many Democratic strategists believe that Mr. Biden should resist tangling with his intraparty rivals and avoid the temptation to prove that he is just as progressive as they are. “Don’t let the agenda stray from the argument that he can deliver us from Trump,” said Paul Begala, the former Bill Clinton adviser. | Many Democratic strategists believe that Mr. Biden should resist tangling with his intraparty rivals and avoid the temptation to prove that he is just as progressive as they are. “Don’t let the agenda stray from the argument that he can deliver us from Trump,” said Paul Begala, the former Bill Clinton adviser. |
| But when Mr. Biden appears before reporters and voters upon arriving in Iowa next week, that may prove easier said than done. Never known for his discipline, the former vice president is entering a media environment unlike that in his first two presidential campaigns; now his every misstep will immediately pinball across the internet. And he is stepping into a race filled with 18 other candidates who could lift their profiles by baiting the front-runner into a back-and-forth that would quickly erase memories of Mr. Biden’s high-minded call to arms. | But when Mr. Biden appears before reporters and voters upon arriving in Iowa next week, that may prove easier said than done. Never known for his discipline, the former vice president is entering a media environment unlike that in his first two presidential campaigns; now his every misstep will immediately pinball across the internet. And he is stepping into a race filled with 18 other candidates who could lift their profiles by baiting the front-runner into a back-and-forth that would quickly erase memories of Mr. Biden’s high-minded call to arms. |
| Mr. Biden this month played down his party’s leftward turn, pointing out the success of moderates in last year’s midterm elections and telling reporters he was a proud “Obama-Biden Democrat.” But less clear is what exactly that means in 2019. | Mr. Biden this month played down his party’s leftward turn, pointing out the success of moderates in last year’s midterm elections and telling reporters he was a proud “Obama-Biden Democrat.” But less clear is what exactly that means in 2019. |
| Mr. Biden has not sketched out any vision on health care, criminal justice, education or the environment. He has said he has the most progressive record of any candidate, but then amended that to indicate he was alluding to his stances on social issues like L.G.B.T. rights. | Mr. Biden has not sketched out any vision on health care, criminal justice, education or the environment. He has said he has the most progressive record of any candidate, but then amended that to indicate he was alluding to his stances on social issues like L.G.B.T. rights. |
| [Here’s a look at what Mr. Biden has said about some key issues.] | |
| Mr. Biden may be too tenuous a front-runner to alienate any of his party’s core constituencies, but he could risk just as much by portraying himself as anything besides a mainstream liberal. He faces few more important tasks than finding that balance: reflecting the party for what it is today without attempting a cringe-inducing reinvention of what he likes to call his “brand.” | Mr. Biden may be too tenuous a front-runner to alienate any of his party’s core constituencies, but he could risk just as much by portraying himself as anything besides a mainstream liberal. He faces few more important tasks than finding that balance: reflecting the party for what it is today without attempting a cringe-inducing reinvention of what he likes to call his “brand.” |
| Mr. Biden’s announcement video was about one big promise to voters: He would eject Mr. Trump from office and lead a country that they could be proud of. Asked by a reporter outside a pizzeria in Wilmington, Del., on Thursday afternoon about his message for the rest of the world, he said “America is coming back” and said his administration would be “ethical, straight, telling the truth.” | Mr. Biden’s announcement video was about one big promise to voters: He would eject Mr. Trump from office and lead a country that they could be proud of. Asked by a reporter outside a pizzeria in Wilmington, Del., on Thursday afternoon about his message for the rest of the world, he said “America is coming back” and said his administration would be “ethical, straight, telling the truth.” |
| But the traditional American values Mr. Biden extolled may only go so far in inspiring voters, both in a primary and a general election. Some of his Democratic competitors already have well-developed signature proposals that have helped to define their candidacies, like Senator Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All Act, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s plan to forgive student loans and Senator Cory Booker’s “baby bonds” program. Mr. Biden has nothing comparable, at least so far. | But the traditional American values Mr. Biden extolled may only go so far in inspiring voters, both in a primary and a general election. Some of his Democratic competitors already have well-developed signature proposals that have helped to define their candidacies, like Senator Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All Act, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s plan to forgive student loans and Senator Cory Booker’s “baby bonds” program. Mr. Biden has nothing comparable, at least so far. |
| Mr. Biden may start to fill in this blank space on Monday, when he is to visit a Pittsburgh union hall and speak about the middle class and the economy. But it is unclear whether he will be inclined to develop sweeping policy plans, or whether he will stay close to his roots as a moderate who favors political compromise and incremental change. | Mr. Biden may start to fill in this blank space on Monday, when he is to visit a Pittsburgh union hall and speak about the middle class and the economy. But it is unclear whether he will be inclined to develop sweeping policy plans, or whether he will stay close to his roots as a moderate who favors political compromise and incremental change. |
| The risk to Mr. Biden, if he takes too long to define his vision for the future, is that he might come to be seen mainly as a figure of nostalgia — a candidate of the past. | The risk to Mr. Biden, if he takes too long to define his vision for the future, is that he might come to be seen mainly as a figure of nostalgia — a candidate of the past. |
| So far, the most important fund-raising in the Democratic race has happened online. And several of the most prominent candidates, including Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren, are fueling their campaigns almost exclusively that way. | So far, the most important fund-raising in the Democratic race has happened online. And several of the most prominent candidates, including Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren, are fueling their campaigns almost exclusively that way. |
| Mr. Biden’s approach will be different, and far more reliant on the largess of the wealthiest benefactors of the Democratic Party. His aides have already spent more than a week encouraging donors to send $2,800 checks — the maximum sum allowed — to his primary-campaign-in-waiting, and a Comcast executive who oversees the company’s lobbying division was hosting a major fund-raiser for Mr. Biden in Philadelphia on Thursday night. | Mr. Biden’s approach will be different, and far more reliant on the largess of the wealthiest benefactors of the Democratic Party. His aides have already spent more than a week encouraging donors to send $2,800 checks — the maximum sum allowed — to his primary-campaign-in-waiting, and a Comcast executive who oversees the company’s lobbying division was hosting a major fund-raiser for Mr. Biden in Philadelphia on Thursday night. |
| The financial challenges for Mr. Biden are twofold. He must raise an immense amount of money rapidly, without the benefit of a robust online fund-raising machine of the kind some of his rivals possess. And Mr. Biden must raise that amount without stoking suspicions among Democratic primary voters that he is compromised by his dependency on big money. | The financial challenges for Mr. Biden are twofold. He must raise an immense amount of money rapidly, without the benefit of a robust online fund-raising machine of the kind some of his rivals possess. And Mr. Biden must raise that amount without stoking suspicions among Democratic primary voters that he is compromised by his dependency on big money. |
| [Mr. Biden started his campaign with $0, when other candidates had already collected millions.] | |
| The latter danger — that “Middle-Class Joe,” as he styles himself, could come to be seen as a candidate of rich people and corporations — may be especially vexing to Mr. Biden because his record on banking and corporate regulation has already drawn sharp criticism from the left. Yet, without having spent years cultivating an online donor base, and lacking the novelty factor that has helped other candidates soak the internet, Mr. Biden appears to see little alternative to seeking out the biggest checks possible. | The latter danger — that “Middle-Class Joe,” as he styles himself, could come to be seen as a candidate of rich people and corporations — may be especially vexing to Mr. Biden because his record on banking and corporate regulation has already drawn sharp criticism from the left. Yet, without having spent years cultivating an online donor base, and lacking the novelty factor that has helped other candidates soak the internet, Mr. Biden appears to see little alternative to seeking out the biggest checks possible. |