How Biden built his big lead

The Washington wise man Stephen Hess once said to me, “You know who’s going to get a second look? Bill Clinton.” This was in 1992, right after “60 Minutes” had revealed Clinton’s relationship with a woman whose name wasn’t Hillary.I rolled my eyes. Guess who was right?

It is foolishness to pretend to know who is going to be the Democratic nominee in 2020. In 2003, a month before the Iowa caucuses, you would have been nuts to bet against former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

On Dec. 17 of that year, Dean led nationally with 23% of the vote . . . against then-Sen. John Kerry’s 4%. “Dean Pulls Away in Dem Race,” reported CBS News.Then Kerry turned his fortunes around in Iowa, won the caucuses, Dean screamed a desperate “yeeeargh” in response and Kerry sailed into the nomination.

So what does this say about Joe Biden and his significant leads in national polling as well as in the polls in the first three critical states where Democratic voters will express their view on who their party’s nominee should be next year?

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