GOP strategist Colin Reed on Biden's expected 2020 announcement: 'The gloves will come off right away'

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Joe Biden leads 2020 Democratic presidential polls but will he live up to voters' expectations?

Colin Reed and Michael Meehan weigh in on whether or not former Vice President Joe Biden will live up to voters' expectations ahead of his expected 2020 presidential campaign announcement.

GOP strategist Colin Reed said Wednesday he thinks “the gloves will come off right away” if former Vice President Joe Biden joins the crowded 2020 field of Democrats as expected.

“I think Joe Biden has made a connection with voters,” Democratic strategist Michael Meehan, the president and CEO of Squared Communications, responded on “The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino” Wednesday.

“This will be his third time running and eight years as serving as vice president. But, he has the ability in the small caucus states of Iowa and New Hampshire, where you go into people's living rooms in the very beginning to tell a story about his life and his faith and his vision for what government should be. And, any one of his opponents would be wrong to think that he's not prepared to go into those small parts of those small states early on and show the kind of strength he has.”

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Meehan added, “He also has the advantage of name I.D. A third of the Democratic primary with 21 candidates, on the way to 30, is a huge advantage for him.”

Biden’s announcement would end months of speculation. Despite the recent #MeToo controversy complicating his would-be campaign, the former vice president has remained at the top of most public opinion polls.

Biden’s potential campaign hit a bump recently after several women publicly accused him of touching them inappropriately at events.

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When asked how long it would be before the other Democrats start attacking Biden, Reed, who managed Scott Brown's U.S. Senate campaign in New Hampshire in 2014, said he thought it would happen immediately, adding, “if they are smart, maybe they will do it in an understated way.”

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With Biden, 76, expected to announce his candidacy on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported he likely will rely heavily on big donors to get his campaign up and running.

Meehan said, “I think money's important if you don't have the kind of name I.D. that Joe Biden has. And so, it is a good measure for some of these candidates, the senators or the congressman who haven't run on a national ticket before.”

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He added, “The money is a credible threshold but I don't think it's such a positive because what happens in a presidential (election) is that people get their information about these candidates from shows like yours and across the board. And, it's not like a state senate race or governor's race where people don't have any name I.D. and you have to be able to pay these ads to get your name out there.”

When asked if he thought Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would go after Biden right away, Reed said, “I don’t think he goes after him right away because he’s the frontrunner, and in politics, you always punch up, not down.”