Though the term “Biden Republicans” isn’t exactly part of the popular vernacular, if things continue as they well may, it could soon enough find its way into many dictionaries.

For lots of progressives, the often-younger folks who support either Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont socialist, or Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat whose views aren't so far removed from those held by Sanders, the lingering appeal of former Vice President Joe Biden remains incomprehensible. Sanders is yelling about a "revolution," Warren, with her dizzying array of big-government programs to be funded by a tax on wealth, is hardly far behind, and Biden, who continues to talk about working with Republicans, is still leading the Democratic presidential field in national polls. Those wondering how this can be need to get out of their bubble.

If you communicate only with fellow travelers -- not only in the aisles of Whole Foods, but also on woke Twitter -- you may well believe that moderation is for suckers. And Biden, of course, at least in the minds of the progressive set, is a moderate.

But he's not, in fact. Since he first came to Congress in 1973, during his eight years as Barack Obama's vice president, and onto today, Biden is what used to be called a liberal. But not a whacked-out one. Or, put another way, a liberal who wouldn't scare away moderate Republicans and independents come November. In other words, and most importantly, a liberal who could win the presidency and send Donald Trump packing.

A recent report on Page 1 of The New York Times focused on Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters who have been thinking expansively about who could have the best chance of winning against Trump next year -- they’ve been considering their Republican friends and family members. And Biden, looked at in that light, looks, well, electable.

In our hyper-partisan era, it's easy to see the nation as divided between red and blue -- and never the twain shall meet. Easy, but facile. And perhaps a losing proposition.

There were voters, especially in the Midwest, who backed Obama, but switched to Trump in 2016. Many of them are blue collar workers -- long the core of Biden’s camp. Kissing them good-bye permanently by embracing socialism, or big-government solutions to every imaginable problem, isn’t what anyone would call a winning electoral strategy.