David Ignatius expresses my sentiments with cold unsentimentality. I quote at length.
Joe Biden’s limitations as a presidential candidate are so obvious that they’re almost a litany: He’s too old, too white, too male, too touchy-feely, too loquacious. But he has one huge plus: He may be the person who could move President Trump out of the White House....
As Democrats assess the dizzying array of 20 candidates, the first question they should ask is whether a nominee could gain a strong majority in the general election and
defeat Trump….
Progressive activists within the party are generating ideas and energy that could galvanize a country that wants a fairer economy and a cleaner government. But none of these ideas will matter unless a Democrat wins … [and] in thinking about their party's nominee, paradoxically, Democrats must put the country first.
Democrats, similarly, should ask whether impeachment in the House will help oust Trump or deepen his support. The evidence gathered by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III certainly is sufficient to open an impeachment process in the House. But if the Senate won’t convict, would impeachment help or hinder Democrats in the 2020 election? That may sound like a cynical calculus, but if the goal is removing Trump from office, it’s essential to weigh both the costs and benefits….
With all his blarney and sometimes tedious speechifying, he's obviously, uncontestably a decent person. He would be far from an ideal president, let alone a Democratic candidate. Maybe in one of those blessed miracles of American democracy that produced our greatest presidents, someone else will emerge who's younger, smarter, more representative of a diverse electorate.
But right now, Biden looks most like the person who could beat Trump. And that’s Job One.
My only difference with Ignatius is that his (and my) positive assessment of Biden's candidacy "may sound like a cynical calculus." Quite the contrary. It's an expression of idealistic reality.