Even if the sexual assault allegations by former Joe Biden staff member Tara Reade turn out to be false, the former vice president still faces problems.
The first and most important of these is whether he can win his party’s nomination.
I’m generally suspicious when it comes to politics. Why has Reade waited until now to come forward? Biden has run for president before and several times for senator. He was vetted before Barack Obama picked him as his running mate. The timing seems too convenient.
Are there forces within the Democratic Party – Bernie Sanders supporters, for example – who don’t believe Biden has the mental capacity to endure what will be a brutal campaign? Are they undermining him by canceling or delaying party primaries? Will he show up at his party’s convention (if there is one) with an insufficient number of delegates to clinch the nomination, setting off a “trade war” among delegates won by Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and others?
Even The New York Times editorial board, no friend of President Donald Trump, has called for a full investigation of Reade’s assertions.