"His Late Career Ascent Might Mark Its End"

"Much of the public is exhausted, furious, and sickened by the yawning gap between American ideals and American realities. Standards have been shredded to such an extent that it's hard to imagine a candidate dropping out over a character issue now. Maybe this is OK. The mythmaking urge to turn our leaders into idols of history—whether Clinton or Reagan or Kennedy—was always in tension with the ugly facts that kept emerging about them."

Lili Loofbourow at Slate wonders if Joe Biden will bring the United States into an era of post-character politics.