"Almost Single-Handedly Stunted the Growth of Every Other Center-Left Alternative"

"Biden has run for president three times. He has not yet managed to finish higher than fourth in any primary or caucus. Biden may, or may not, have been a good enough politician to win a presidential campaign in his prime. He is now well past his prime. His campaigning pace is languid, his debate performances unsettling. Nor has he built the kind of campaign apparatus that could drag him over the finish line. He has far fewer endorsements than a traditional establishment favorite, and his organization has underperformed in Iowa and New Hampshire.
"Yet, for most of the last year, Biden sat on the largest piece of real estate in the Democratic party. He has commanded the loyalty of voters who fondly recall Barack Obama's presidency and wish to replicate it, and whose primary goal is to assemble  majority coalition. They are disproportionately black and occupy the center-left heart of the party's base."

At New York, Jonathan Chait argues that Joe Biden's "2020 campaign is going to end in a disaster for the whole party."