Biden gambles on high-risk primary strategy [View all]

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If it seems like the former veep is running for the nomination of a different party than the rest of his rivals, that’s because he is.

From his schedule, his messaging, to policy positions, the former vice president is carving a divergent path through the primaries based on a theory that few of his rivals appear to believe — that the Democratic base isn’t nearly as liberal or youthful as everyone thinks.

“He is keeping his eye on becoming the nominee. And the more important thing, if you do become the nominee, you have to win the Electoral College in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio,” said Jim Mowrer, who ran veterans issues in Iowa for Biden’s 2008 presidential race. “If you’re only speaking to a specific group in the Democratic Party, those things are not going to be appealing to the general electorate.”

“The fact of the matter is the vast majority of the members of the Democratic Party are still basically liberal to moderate Democrats in the traditional sense,” he told reporters in early April. Privately, several Biden advisers acknowledge that their theory of the case is rooted in polling data and voting trends that are in plain sight. They contend that the idea of a hyper-progressive Democratic electorate is advanced inaccurately by a media stuck in a bubble propagated by Twitter, and out of touch with the average rank-and-file Democrat.

Biden’s team points to recent polls, showing that a majority of the Democratic primary electorate identify as moderate or conservative, 56 percent is over 50 and nearly 60 percent are not college educated. And they point to the results of the 2018 midterm elections that they say saw moderate Democrats win their congressional and state primaries.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/10/joe-biden-democrats-2020-strategy-1358530