It's 2 primaries now: Biden and everyone else

[DonViejo]

The former veep is running against himself. The rest of the field is trying to get within striking distance.

By DAVID SIDERS 06/03/2019 05:01 AM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO — With the introductory stage of the Democratic presidential primary now over, the lines of engagement are beginning to take shape. And what is emerging is a primary that is no longer one nominating contest, but two.

The first, occurring wherever Joe Biden materializes, is the front-runner’s campaign against himself — his history of failed presidential elections, his propensity for gaffes, his need to adhere to new “boundaries of protecting personal space.”

The other includes everyone else.

Nowhere were the two tracks of the primary more stark than over the weekend, when Biden positioned himself in Ohio, far from the horde of other Democratic contenders. While more than half the field jostled at the Californian Democratic Party convention here — the largest single state party gathering in the nation — the former vice president had the lectern to himself at a Human Rights Campaign dinner on Saturday, contrasting his candidacy not with any Democrat, but with the Republican president.

His counter-programming appearance served the latest reminder that, with large leads in national and several early state polls, Biden is running a race in a vacuum, adhering to his own rules and schedule. The biggest threats to his campaign at the moment aren’t his rivals so much as his advanced age and ability to remain disciplined in an era where missteps are under heightened scrutiny.

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/03/joe-biden-2020-primaries-california-1351101

[Bayard]

1. Human Rights Campaign dinner

Smart move.

[Indygram]

2. It doesn't matter what the polls say if he gets beat in Iowa, NH and SC

If he doesn't start putting in the work like other candidates are and go talk to people he will lose.

[Indykatie]

3. With Such A Crowded Field IA and NH Will Matter Less Than In Other Cycles

I see that as a good thing. Talking to People doesn't require meeting every Dem in Iowa before their caucus. I see SC as the first important and possibly defining primary race in 2020.