In politics your friends are more trouble than your enemies. Joe Biden is experiencing this phenomenon right now. Even though Democratic voters and interests detest President Trump to an unprecedented degree, the squabbling factions of their coalition continue to impose demands on Biden and parse every word, making sure he doesn’t violate ideological norms and sensibilities — potentially costing him the presidency.
Past winning presidential candidates overcame factionalism with charisma (Reagan, Clinton, Obama) and force of personality (Nixon, Reagan, Bush the Younger, Obama, Trump). But Biden is lacking in both. It is a testament to the problems of the Democratic field that the candidate with the combination of charisma and strong personality, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), was ideologically unacceptable.
Just like Hillary Clinton, Biden remains stuck under 50 percent with Trump, lurking near the margin of error. For all their hatred of Trump, the activists in the Democratic base cannot resist hectoring Biden and his campaign away from doing what he needs to win.
In 2016 Trump won in large part because he ran hard and aggressive while a complacent, unlikable, gaffe-prone Hillary Clinton thought she was already president. In 2020 history is repeating itself
