One-Term Biden Could Prove Unbeatable

One-term Biden wouldn't have to worry about satisfying constituencies or winning re-election. One-term Biden, this argument would go, would be free to craft the kind of bipartisan deals that only a Senate veteran can pull off -- although, in my view, Biden's chief deal-making claim to fame as vice president, the fiscal-cliff agreement, gave away too much to Republicans.

An alternative, or perhaps complementary, theory is that Biden could run to Clinton's left, seeking to seize on the base energy evoked by Warren and, in her stead, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

This approach makes less sense. Yes, on matters of foreign engagement, Biden can argue that he is more appropriately hesitant than Clinton to become embroiled in conflicts. (Of course, that argument can cut against him as well, especially in the case of Biden's thumbs-down on the successful raid on Osama bin Laden.)

But on domestic matters, Biden is no Warren. He (and Clinton) voted for the bankruptcy bill that she labored to defeat. He voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement. He authored the 1994 crime bill that has now become a symbol of over-criminalization. Yes, he championed the Violence Against Women Act, but a contest with Clinton could end up reviving debate on the handling of the Anita Hill hearings over which Biden presided, not to his credit.

Better for Biden to run as Biden -- authentic, experienced, progressive but not too doctrinaire to cut a deal. If he has ideas for helping the middle class that are different from, or bolder than, Clinton's, let's hear them.

Biden seems truly undecided, in particular about whether, after his son Beau's death, he has the "emotional fuel" to run. The vice president doesn't want to suffer another embarrassment like 2008. Even more, he worries about his family, and the impact of a bruising race.

Then again, consider Biden's 1987 memoir, "Promises to Keep," which takes its name from the phrase in Robert Frost's celebrated poem. Biden opens with an epigraph from Frost: "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have ... miles to go before I sleep."

Frost uses the line twice. It is easy to imagine Biden running a third time. And the campaign, at this point, would benefit from another voice, and a credible alternative.

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Ruth Marcus' email address is ruthmarcus@washpost.com.