For months, Joe Biden has been like an emergency backup quarterback warming up on the sidelines.  If he’s asked to get in the game, it will be because his team is already in trouble.  The Democrat bench is not a deep one, it’s win with their starter or no one.  After the recent Democratic debate, it’s apparent her opponents either don’t expect to win or are not trying very hard.  Hillary ought to be really worried if Biden decides to make one more go of it, not because she’s scared of him, but what it might mean for her.  Actually, Joe would be pushed in reluctantly by a DNC that has no other options.

How Biden gets in is not the problem for Mrs. Clinton, it’s the likely why of it.  It’s not because that he is so much better than her.  He has high approval and low disapproval ratings, she has the opposite.  That won’t be the problem, nor would it be his financing or his organization.  The reason Hillary should fear a Biden run is that it will probably only happen if he’s expected to be the only viable candidate the Democrats have after she is forced out.

The Vice President has a direct link to the President, who has a direct link to the Justice Department.  If word comes down the pike that an indictment of Mrs. Clinton or one of her inner circle is inevitable, Biden will be inserted into the race.  The problem for the DNC is that the window to get Biden into the race is rapidly closing; the calendar is now their enemy.  Even if the odds of an indictment are 50/50, the Party will have to make the switch.  If they wait too long, and Clinton is served papers with no Biden candidacy, it will mean Democratic nominee Bernie Sanders, and in all likelihood, bye-bye third Obama term.

The Democrats know they have only two viable candidates, one who has the Sword of Damocles hanging over her head, and the other an aging Senator from a small state who has little incentive to run, except for a sense of duty to his party.  If the team puts Biden in, it will be a very bad omen for the former First Lady.  Joe Biden probably won’t beat her for the nomination, but she may have already beaten herself.