Deja Vu All Over Again

The race for the Democratic nomination for president has been far less interesting than the Republican, in that the candidates actually have experience in government and don't tend to put their foot in their mouths ("stuff happens," indeed). But things could get very interested and, as the late great Yogi Berra was reported to have said, it could be "deja vu all over again" for Hillary Clinton.

Clinton has been dogged by the excitement of the Bernie Sanders campaign, which has raised as much money as she has but with lower amounts per donation. He is running a great example of a grass roots campaign, and no matter your opinion on his policy, he has managed to put a serious dent in the juggernaut that was supposed to be Hillary Clinton.

There are other candidates, who have barely managed a blip, mostly due to Clinton and Sanders domination of any media coverage, and also because of a lack of debates. Republican candidates such as Carly Fiorina have benefited from debate exposure, which is free. Martin O'Malley, Jim Webb, and Lincoln Chafee must be fuming, as not only are they getting microscopic poll numbers, I'm sure very few Americans know they are running for president.

Things could get very interested when or if Joe Biden gets in the race. He has been playing Hamlet lately, with all sorts of theories emanating on whether he will run or not. Joe will be 74 in 2016, but that doesn't seem to be an issue (Sanders is only a year younger). From what we know, it's not his age that is keeping from running, but perhaps a lack of fortitude due to the death of his son, Beau, this year. He was a senator-elect back in 1972 when his wife and daughter were killed in an accident, and he almost quit the post. He hung in there for six terms.

Biden has had a long and interesting career in government. He began as a young crusading senator, prominent for his roles as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation hearings for Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. A presidential candidate in 1988, he was derailed by plagiarism issues that were never even mentioned during the 2008 campaign for vice-president. Then, as veep, he became something of a caricature of himself, a crazy uncle who specialized in gaffes.

But even a man who has been in government for over forty years. The death of his son, perversely, has made Biden seem more of a man of gravity. His appearance on the Late Show with Steven Colbert seemed to solidify this. Colbert said, "Everybody likes Joe Biden," and while that was entertainment industry kissing ass--there are plenty of people on the right who hate Biden's guts--it's probably true enough on a nationwide basis to scare the bejeesus out of Hillary. If the man runs, he instantly changes the shape of this election.

What started as a fait accompli with Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee isn't so fait accompli any more. It's starting to look a lot more like 2008, but not with a young upstart like Barack Obama, but an old pro like Joe Biden.