BULLETIN:  BIDEN DECIDES – AT 12:30 P.M. ET:  Joe Biden has just announced, in the White House rose garden, that he will not (repeat not) be a candidate for president.

This gives Hillary Clinton a relatively clear path to the Democratic nomination, barring serious charges as a result of the FBI investigation into her conduct as secretary of state.  If those charges should come down in coming months, the Democrats will be in chaos.

Biden's statement that he will not run was rambling, and seemed poorly prepared.  He did say he thought the Democratic Party should run on Obama's record, which is bad advice, and he did say we can't solve all the world's problems, which, while true, sends a signal of weakness and indecsion.

Biden has always been a generally decent but shallow man.  He's been wrong, and, I think, proved wrong, on the great foreign-policy issues of our time.

Biden's "no" means increased attention to tomorrow's testimony by Hillary Clinton before the Benghazi committee.  It may also mean increased attention to Bernie Sanders, the only candidate who has gained any traction against Hillary in the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination.

However...Biden did outline some things he would do if he were president.  In a way, he left the door open to being nominated should Hillary stumble.  In effect, a draft, not requiring a campaign.

It's Hillary's nomination to lose.  The question is whether she will lose it.   Hey, you never know. 

October 21, 2015