Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the Democratic presidential candidates debate in Westerville, Ohio, October 15, 2019. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Just about everyone covering the 2020 race thinks Joe Biden is too old, that he’s lost a step since his days as vice president, and that his debate performances have been mixed at best.

But Biden is still hanging in there in third place in Iowa; the CBS News poll has him tied for first.


Michael Bloomberg and Deval Patrick jumped in late, sensing that Biden was soft and on the verge of collapse, and that not-so-liberal Democratic voters were itching for another option.

But Biden is still hanging in there, in second place in New Hampshire, and Quinnipiac has him in first place.

Progressives are ridiculing Biden for contending marijuana can be a “gateway drug” to other illegal drugs.


But Biden is still ahead by a considerable margin in Nevada.

Biden held a fundraiser at the home of a top Amazon executive, and during his remarks observed, “200,000 salespeople are out of work because people are shopping online now” — less a critique than an acknowledgment of the complicated new economic reality that his host helped build.

But Biden is still ahead by nearly 20 points in South Carolina.

Tim Ryan, an Ohio congressman who ran for president and generated almost no attention, endorsed Biden six days ago and almost no one noticed.


But Biden is still ahead by about 7 points in the national RealClearPolitics average.

The past few months have seen the Democratic party react as if Biden was collapsing . . . without Joe Biden actually collapsing.