The Joe Biden campaign for president has been a spectacle to behold this year. On the one hand, if you wrote out Biden on paper, it would look something like this: seasoned older white man, executive experience, wingman for the first black president. You’d think he’s a shoo-in for the Democratic nomination in 2020. Yet, life—and in some cases, California Sen. Kamala Harris—comes at you fast.
Biden has remained the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in polling and fundraising, but his lead, even with black voters, is often described as “soft” and many of his supporters are still secretly swiping left on their accounts. One group that has remained steadfast in their support for Biden (in addition to older black voters) are long-standing black politicians. In the face of a vile, xenophobic and racist Donald Trump, what makes a black political leader, especially one running the black mecca of the United States, (no shade to D.C., but really) throw in with Joe Biden in a field of hundreds?
