Joe Biden's campaign isn't going so well — but the ideas to fix it are even worse

The presidential candidate has reversed his stance on super PACS, while other moderate Democrats are wondering whether they should put up a different last-minute candidate. Both of those strategies are doomed to fail

(AP)

In a recent statement, Joe Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, cited the behavior of President Donald Trump and his allies for their reason to reverse a self-imposed ban on accepting help from a super PAC.

“Donald Trump has decided that the general election has already begun,” Bedingfield wrote. “He and his allies are already spending massive amounts of money on paid television and digital advertising to intervene directly in Democratic primaries with the goal of preventing Joe Biden, the opponent that Trump fears most, from becoming the Democratic nominee.”

Let her tell it: “In this time of crisis in our politics, it is not surprising that those who are dedicated to defeating Donald Trump are organizing in every way permitted by current law to bring an end to his disastrous presidency.”

And then, of course, this line: “Nothing changes unless we defeat Donald Trump.”

Bedingfield’s choice of words belies the true motivation of this shift: it is not borne out of strategy, but necessity. And much like the man he seeks to replace, Joe Biden is faulting someone else for his decision to flip-flop.

Biden was correct when he previously opined about the ills of super PACs. During an appearance on PBS NewsHour in 2018, he claimed to have told Bernie Sanders not to create a super PAC during his 2016 run. “I’m the guy that told him, you shouldn’t accept any money from a super PAC, because people can’t possibly trust you. How will a middle-class guy accept you if you accept [that] money?” he said.

Yes, how will they, “Middle Class Joe?”

But it seems that the Biden campaign is cash-strapped, reportedly entering the month of October with only $9 million in the bank — far less than many of his leading rivals. Although he is drawing more money from rich donors than any other candidate, Biden lags significantly behind his competitors in terms of individual donors.

In reaction to Uncle Joe’s pleas for the plutocrats to save his fledgling operation, Faiz Shakir, Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager, said via statement: "Let’s be clear, super PACs exist for one reason and one reason only: to help billionaires and corporations bankroll a presidential campaign with unlimited amounts of money, in exchange for favors. Every Democratic candidate should forcefully reject any help from super PACs —and they should tell their supporters and surrogates to stop engaging with super PACs that aim to buy elections and undermine our democracy.”

Although she didn’t cite Biden by name, Elizabeth Warren wrote on Twitter: “It’s disappointing that any Democratic candidate would reverse course and endorse the use of unlimited contributions from the wealthy to run against fellow Democrats. A handful of wealthy donors should not be allowed to buy the Democratic nomination. That’s not who we are.”

Although Biden may be burning cash on private jets, select national polls point to the enduring affinity Democratic voters have with him. Nevertheless, his inability to produce the sort of campaign that inspires and resonates with the masses speaks to what’s always been his larger issue: he has never been good at running for president. People can imagine Joe Biden as president, sure— but merely looking presidential in the media won’t get people fired up. And if you can’t get fired up, you are using that extra cash on something like a pedicure (because you deserve it) and not Biden’s stumbling bid for the presidency.

The campaign is going so badly that there are now reports of the Democrat donor class experiencing enough anxiety to think about putting up other candidates. It’s early in the race, after all, and maybe Joe isn’t going to make it. Folks like Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Michael Bloomberg, Eric Holder, Deval Patrick and Sherrod Brown are apparently considering jumping in. To which I say: please, just leave us alone.

Who wants to endure another Trump-versus-Clinton campaign? Doesn’t that sound so painful? Let Hillary spend her time trolling Republicans (because she deserves that).

As for Michael Bloomberg: bragging about racist policies like stop-and-frisk while being a plutocrat is not how you beat a bigot.

And while John Kerry seem swell, much like his Secretary of State kin, some people need to accept defeat and find something else to do. Oh, and Deval Patrick, you worked at Bain capital and served as former governor of Massachusetts: you know better. Lastly, while Sherrod Brown may well have performed well in the primary, it’s late October, so both he and another intriguing figure, Eric Holder, missed the boat.

What all of them — the pundits, the donor class, the moderates — need to accept is that Joe Biden was never the be-all, end-all candidate. Any one of those candidates running could beat Trump and just about all of them — including Biden — could be beaten by Trump. The issue is finding the kind of candidate that inspires voters to the point where they feel compelled to engage. Once you get over your Joe Biden/old white guy centrist kink and take a look around, you’ll see there are already candidates across the country who are able to do that.