Joe Biden

People are comparing Delaware's own Joe Biden in his presidential candidacy in 1988 to John Kerry. Instapundit is posting on it here. He's also linking to John Rosenberg's post on a similar subject.

People are basically saying Joe Biden lost his presidential Biden because he plagarized some speeches, but everyone is looking the other way with John Kerry for similar acts during his Vietnam testimony. Commentators have gone as far as using this as an example of the moral breakdown of the democratic party in the last 16 years.

Hold on. Joe Biden didn't fail to weather the plagiarism storm because of the moral compunctions of his party. He failed to weather it because he lacked the standing to be a bankable candidate. Let me demonstrate.

I live in Delaware. When I visit My Girl in North Carolina, people hear me talk, notice my accent (or lack thereof), and ask where I'm from. I tell them that I live in Delaware. They ask what state thats in. This isn't a criticism of the geographic knowledge of North Carolineans. Delawareans get this a lot no matter where we go in the US.

Delaware is a small state with 3 counties and, more importantly for a national political race, 3 electoral votes. We're not exactly New York, California, or Texas. This isn't the place to raise up a major national figure. This is also why people are talking about Biden for a stint as Secretary of State if Kerry wins the Presidency. Delaware has a glass ceiling of mediocrity and that sort of national office might get him somewhere.

Worse yet Delaware is a state full of moderate politics. We're notorious ticket splitters. Tom Carper, Joe Biden, and Mike Castle are all moderates. Where is that gonna get Joe Biden in the primaries? Nowhere. Primaries reliably select party faithful and extremists, not centrists.

Maybe as more people move to Delaware from Maryland and Jersey and bring their politics with them, Newcastle County will get liberal enough to produce a candidate that will satisfy the DNC. Hopefully it won't happen though. The policy those transplants bring in will screw up our state just like they screwed up their old states.