Supposedly, Joe Biden is now thinking about a run for President.

The super-PAC organized to encourage Vice President Biden to run for president released its first ad on Friday ahead of a “national day of action” to gather signatures for the push.
“Some people ask why Joe Biden,” a young man in the ad says. “I turn back and ask them why not Joe Biden? He’s been on of the most influential vice presidents that this country has seen. He’s right now a part of one of the most successful administrations in recent history, and he’s a big reason for that success.”

Supporters in the ad praise Biden for being on the forefront of the gay rights movement, for working to stop violence on college campuses and for generally appealing to “the younger generation’s beliefs.”

Way back in the dark years, I was struck by just how insulated the political class was from normal life. A story I’m fond of telling is about how the flunkies to a congressman were all befuddled by a lawnmower. The congressman was holding a party at his house and the gardeners forgot to cut the grass behind the patio.

Someone got the bright idea to get the mower out of the garage and quickly cut the grass.  No one knew how the lawnmower worked so five adults stood around looking at it, trying to discover its strange secrets. I watched this go on for maybe fifteen minutes. It was not a lot different than the opening scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Eventually I had my fill and showed them how to start the mower. It was then agreed that they would most likely harm themselves or others trying to use it so I cut the bit of grass and put the mower away. There was a certain pride amongst them in not knowing how the tools of the lower orders worked.

This culture gap is much broader now. That Biden ad is so intensely stupid most people would assume it is a gag. Maybe something Team Cankles dreamed up to embarrass Crazy Joe. But, they really think it is effective. They also think the kids are all worked up about the homos and campus violence, which is imaginary.

That said, I’d love to see Biden run. I’d probably blow a funny fuse laughing at a race between Cankles, Bernie and Crazy Joe. If Saturday Night Live was still funny, the skits would write themselves. Even so, the comedy would be endless. There’s also the possibility that the party would splinter with Bernie nailing down the crackpot vote and the less insane portion of the party splitting between Biden and Clinton.

Hillary Clinton remains the front-runner in the race for the Democratic nomination, but recent polling shows Biden would have an impact on the contest if he were to run.
According to a Monmouth University survey released earlier this month, Clinton takes 51 percent support nationally, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at 17 percent and Biden at 13 percent.
But the poll found Biden’s entrance would shake up the race.
In addition to Biden’s 13 percent support, an additional 12 percent of Democratic voters said they’d be likely to support Biden if he took the plunge, and 31 percent said they’d be somewhat likely to support him.
Most of that additional support, 68 percent, would come from those who are currently Clinton supporters.
“Most people seem to be focusing on a Sanders surge among the liberal wing of the party,” said Monmouth polling director Patrick Murray. “But the bigger threat to Clinton may come from a Biden candidacy, where the two would be fighting for the same voters.”

The thing to watch in early states with open voting is how many unaffiliated voters will abandon the Democrats and vote in the GOP primary, where the action is this time. Those voters tend to be a little less crazy and most likely not Sanders voters. That makes Bernie more of a threat.