Joe Biden on the Ropes

This might be a good moment in history for an eminence grise to preside over a caretaker presidency. The country is bitterly divided, and the atmosphere will soon grow more poisoned. (If Donald Trump’s re-election campaign isn’t the most vicious in U.S. history, it will not be for lack of effort.) Democrats are conflicted about the direction of their party and how to defend the rule of law from the depredations of Trump and his enablers. Meantime, an insurgent wing of the party, led by Senator Bernie Sanders, has an appetite for conspiracy theories that often aids and abets Trump’s disinformation.

When he entered the Democratic primary for president, former vice president Joe Biden offered himself as an elder statesman, an experienced hand who could calm such roiling waters. Few Americans have been in public life as long as Biden, who was elected to the U.S. Senate five decades ago at age 29. His service to Barack Obama, the most admired Democrat, has accrued political capital; Biden had a bank of residual goodwill upon which to draw, and a coterie of smart, experienced advisers.