McGurn: Biden needs Bernie more than Bernie needs him
Joe Biden's campaign puts a major focus on winning over Sen. Bernie Sanders' supporters; Wall Street Journal columnist and Fox News contributor Bill McGurn weighs in.
2020 presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden cannot afford to alienate supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders if he wants to clinch the election in November, Wall Street Journal columnist and Fox News contributor Bill McGurn said Tuesday.
Appearing on "America's Newsroom" with host Ed Henry, McGurn said Sanders' endorsement of Biden reveals the strength behind his former candidacy -- strength that Biden needs.
"Well, it actually shows Bernie's strength because it looks like Joe Biden needs Bernie more than Bernie needs him," he noted. "And, especially what he needs are the Bernie voters. And so, he's been sort of steadily moving in Bernie's direction on policy."
OBAMA ENDORSES BIDEN, AFTER MONTHS ON 2020 CAMPAIGN SIDELINES
Biden has already implemented some policy shifts toward that of his Democratic Socialist former opponent, including lowering the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60 and forgiving all student debt for low- and middle-income borrowers who attend public colleges or private HBCUs.
Additionally, former President Barack Obama formally endorsed Biden on Tuesday.
But, Bernie Bros aren't Biden's only hurdle.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, greet one another before they participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate at CNN Studios in Washington, Sunday, March 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
"Look, he has three big problems right now," McGurn explained. "Because of coronavirus, he's stuck in his basement, right? He's really been removed from the public square. He can make a video or something, but he can't campaign and that helps the incumbent.
"The second," he listed, "are these flip-flops which people look at and say, 'What does this man believe?'
"And, the third are the sort of eccentricities -- to put it kindly -- on the campaign trail where he gets into clashes with voters or doesn't remember who he is," McGurn added. "So, he's in a tough place. And, the toughest place -- I think what he thinks right now is that he can't alienate the Bernie voters. If this is going to be a tight election, he needs all these votes. He can't have even, you know, 10 percent of them storming off and just not voting."
McGurn also told Henry that while President Trump has the firepower and the funding, Biden will also have the resources because of the Democrats' desperate need to unseat Trump.
"And, I think they are more agitated than last time. Last time they wanted to defeat him but they were coasting a little because everyone thought Mrs. Clinton would win," he recounted. "This time I think there [are] going to be no breaks. It's going to just be an all-out fight between the two of them.
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"And, I don't think this helps Biden and particularly it doesn't help him on the Medicare," he stated further. "Because one of the things that he was rather eloquent on in the primary debates [was] telling Bernie how impractical his plan was and how it would cost too much money.
"Now, he hasn't embraced it fully -- maybe it's called 'Medicare-for-not-quite-all,' but he's come much closer than he was before and it sort of moots his criticism," McGurn concluded.
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