Is Joe Biden going to save the Democrats in 2020?

What is his compelling message?

Is Joe Biden a knight in shining armor?

Joe Biden has been leading by double digits in the polls for the Democratic Presidential nominee since before  he announced his candidacy.  Elizabeth Warren is inching up, but still has a lot of catching up to do.

Oddly, Biden doesn't seem to have a positive reason for running.  Mostly he wants to defeat Trump.  He also doesn't have large, enthusiastic rallies, as some of the other candidates do.

A 9/3/19 article in the New York Times by Mark Leibovich titled "So Why's Joe Biden want this job?  Um, tough one" discusses "the paradox of the leading candidate not having a compelling reason to run.  When asked by a reporter why he wanted to run, Biden responded with "I think it's really, really, really important that Donald Trump not be re-elected.""

If Joe Biden had not been vice-president during Obama's term in office, would he be leading in the polls now?  Is his implied promise to return America to the halcyon days before Trump enough to beat Trump?  Is it even enough for him to get the nomination?

Thinking about the candidates in the most superficial way possible, I could not say what Biden stands for beyond defeating Trump.  Elizabeth Warren wants to stop corruption in Washington D.C., offer Medicare for all, and help people with onerous student loan debt.  Bernie Sanders also wants Medicare for all, a $15 minimum wage, and to help people burdened with college loan debt.

I looked at the websites of the three top candidates.  Biden, by far, has the most detailed and expansive plans for topics ranging from health care to education to criminal justice reform.  No one could accuse him and his team of skimping on the depth and breadth of his positions.  Notably, he doesn't say how he would pay for anything.  And he still doesn't seem to have "that vision thing" (thank you George H.W. Bush).

Biden's website opens with:  "Our Best Days Still Lie Ahead."  The three pillars that support this statement are:  1.  We've got to rebuild the backbone of the country, the Middle Class.

2. We've got to demonstrate respected leadership on the world stage.

3. We've got to make sure our democracy includes everyone.

I cannot seen any reasonable person disagreeing with these statements.  I cannot see, anyone either, being propelled into the streets to support them. 

Elizabeth Warren's website has an urgent sounding headline:  "We will Save our Democracy."  (If we need to save it, it must be in peril - a lot of people are thinking that.)

Warren's website, despite her mantra "I have a plan for that" is much less detailed than Biden's.  Unlike Biden, she says how she is going to pay for everything.

What Warren's site lacks in details it makes up for it with arguments that many will find visceral and compelling.  For instance, one of the items on the site is:  "Rebuild the Middle Class", followed by "After decades of largely flat wages and exploding household costs, millions of families can barely breathe.  It's time for big, structural changes to put economic power back in the hands of the American people."

This phrase delivers a punch to the gut (mine, at least).  I didn't experience that on Biden's website.

Ironically, the nerdy, wonky Elizabeth Warren seems to "feel your pain" (thank you, Bill Clinton), more than the touchy, feely Joe Biden.  The next debate may shed light on whether Joe Biden has a different rationale for running for president, and, if it even matters in the long run.