Still emerging from the 8-year slumber

Even though he has not officially declared he is running for President of the United States in 2020, Joe Biden is leading in some polls among Democrat candidates. Ah, but in this day where "progressives" judge their candidates not on accomplishments but how many boxes they check on the intersectionality scorecard, a white septuagenarian heterosexual male may well be persona non grata among the "WOKE!" left (commie Bernie Sanders appears to be an exception).

As such,what had been in plain sight in the eight years Biden was Vice President of the United States is now being shouted from the hills by leftists publications. 

Biden’s been caught on camera embracing a female reporter from behind and gripping her above her waist, just below her bust. At a swearing-in ceremony for Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Biden put his hands on the shoulders of Stephanie Carter, Carter’s wife, and then leaned in and whispered into her ear. (He’s whispered into many women’s ears.) He’s also touched women’s faces and necks during other photo ops. Once at a swearing-in ceremony for a US senator, he held the upper arm of the senator’s preteen daughter, leaned down and whispered into her ear, as she became visibly uncomfortable. Then he kissed the side of her forehead, a gesture that made the girl flinch.

It’s all out in the open. News outlets wrote about these incidents. But the stories ran under light-hearted headlines like, “Photo of famously friendly Joe Biden goes viral” or “Here’s Joe Biden being Joe Biden with Ash Carter’s wife” or “Joe Biden: Sex symbol?,” a piece that I edited and now regret.

Ideological media outlets did write some critical pieces during the Obama era. At the Federalist, Mollie Hemingway questioned whether liberals would tolerate the same conduct from a conservative. At Talking Points Memo, Alana Levinson criticized liberals for giving him a pass.

But, overall, Biden got a pass from the political media.

Yep. He sure did. But why was that the case? Maybe it was because Biden being named Barack Obama's running mate in 2008 gave "The One" the gravitas he needed given his woeful lack of accomplishments? Perhaps, though I'm hard pressed to envision a scenario where Obama would not have prevailed regardless of running mate. Truth be told, I was always baffled how Biden's seemingly lecherous behavior was dismissed as "Aw, that's just crazy Uncle Joe. He's harmless."

Even though some of Biden's verifiable actions occurred well into the second Obama term, it's apparently a different time in the era of Trump.

The Democratic Party is more than half women. More women than ever in history ran as Democrats in the 2018 elections — and won. They outperformed their male peers. They were central to Democrats retaking the House. Women are leading the sustained resistance to Trump. The party should be committed to making sure that women and girls participate in government and politics to their fullest potential. The party needs them.

Translation: Uncle Joe has got to go.

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