Biden-Warren 2016?

Biden-Warren 2016?

There has been speculation Joe Biden may run.

There has been speculation Elizabeth Warren may run.

Either of them individually would be a dream come true for the pure theater of it (and with Warren, for some other reasons).

But together, it will have the conservative media and blogosphere shouting “Thank You God!”

Could it be? Consider this unexpected development, first reported by CNN, Biden meets with Warren in Washington:

Vice President Joe Biden met privately with Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Saturday in his residence at the Naval Observatory, CNN has learned, another sign he is seriously deciding whether to jump into the Democratic presidential race.

The meeting between Biden and Warren, confirmed by two people familiar with the session, is the biggest indication yet that Biden is feeling out influential Democrats before announcing his intentions.

Beloved by liberal Democrats, Warren decided to sit out a campaign of her own, but she has yet to formally endorse a candidate. In an interview on Friday, she told WBZ in Boston: “I don’t think anyone has been anointed.”

The vice president arrived in Washington shortly before lunchtime, even though his official schedule said he was planning to spend the weekend at his home in Delaware.

While this may all be for Warren to stand on stage with Biden when he announces, doesn’t it make sense for them to announce the full ticket at one time in order to completely overwhelm the Hillary machine?

Biden brings in the Democratic “middle” (such as it still exists) and the Obama sycophants, while Warren brings in the progressive wing of the party.

The progressive troops at Daily Kos already see this as THE ticket, quoting form a HuffPo column by Yale Prof. Paul Kahn:

A Biden campaign, however, will disappoint millions of progressives who believe this administration has been too conservative and it will disappoint millions of women who support Hillary in part because they believe it is time for a woman president. These are real issues that Democrats cannot ignore and that Biden cannot surmount on his own.

A ticket that included Elizabeth Warren would speak directly and convincingly to both.

Progressives wanted Warren, not Sanders, to run. She has been the standard bearer for this wing of the Party for several years now. For her to win the presidency, moreover, would represent a more fundamental feminist achievement than a win by Hillary, who after all came into national politics as the spouse of a President. Warren, probably wisely, has renounced a run in 2016. Yet, a Biden campaign, cast as one of completing the work of this administration, would be understood — implicitly or explicitly — as leading to a four-year presidency. Biden will be deep into his 70s in four years, which is surely time to retire. In short, running with Biden puts Warren in the prime position to run on her own in four years. This prospect should be far more satisfying to progressives and feminists than watching a spectacle of self-destruction in the coming electoral season if Clinton and Sanders remain our choices.

A Biden/Warren ticket speaks to all the elements of the Democratic coalition. It speaks to the future, while holding on a little longer to the promise of the present. It would save the Democrats from their own worst enemies: themselves.

Having Warren on the ticket gives Dems a potential “first” if they win (you guess which “first” I’m talking about). And if Biden pledges to serve only one term, to ensure the Obama legacy, Warren eases into the top spot in 2020.

And you know what? That might actually be a strong Democratic ticket:

Biden-Warren isn't a bad ticket for the Dems. Key question: Did Obama know about this meeting ahead of time?http://t.co/MDbuIbmjP6

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) August 22, 2015

[For those of you who grew up in a cave, the Featured Image is from Animal House]

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