A Democratic front-runner whose nomination, we’re told, is inevitable, whose decades of high-level experience in government and whose unflagging lead in the polls means they are definitely, absolutely the most electable — despite a damning sense of entitlement, lack of urgency, an unclear reason for running, a lame slogan, a troublesome voting history, clear medical issues that remain unaddressed, the curious silence of “good friend” Barack Obama, and a surging competitor who, whether you agree policy-wise or not, is a true believer, inspiring real passion on the campaign trail.

Thus far, Joe Biden has proved only this: He is Hillary Clinton 2.0.

Hillary Clinton was a terrible retail politician, the perpetual “Eat your vegetables” candidate, neither as electrifying as Obama nor as principled as Bernie (whom, let’s not forget, the DNC sandbagged in favor of Hillary). Biden may be more loquacious, more comfortable talking to blue-collar and rural voters than Hillary, but he’s low-energy on the trail and lacks what has become an essential trait: true star power.

Barack Obama has it. Michelle Obama maybe even more. Trump? The Wall Street Journal just ran a story about the fanatical “Front Row Joes” — a significant portion one-time Obama supporters — traveling the country to faithfully attend Trump’s rallies.

So what has the Democratic postmortem of 2016 generated? Another reheated, pre-packaged candidate of yesteryear, the “most electable” despite, like Hillary, having already lost two presidential elections.

The referendum on Biden has been passed, yet we are told that now, really, is his time. Whether we like him or even want him is, quixotically, irrelevant.

His own wife said as much a few weeks ago.

“Your candidate might be better on, I don’t know, health care than Joe is, but you’ve got to look at who’s going to win this election,” Jill Biden said. “And maybe you have to swallow a little bit and say, ‘Okay, I personally like so-and-so better,’ but your bottom line has to be that we have to beat Trump.”

Aside from the déjà vu — really, where is the logic in that statement?

Analysts and wonks can insist Biden is The One they all want, but we know it’s early, and Elizabeth Warren is on a long-term upward trajectory. (A CBS/YouGov Tracker poll released Monday showed Biden’s lead for convention delegates narrowing considerably, with Warren right behind.)

An aside: How can the party of progressives, in the #MeToo era, conceivably warn against fielding a female candidate this time around? Too much at stake, we’re paternalistically told. The last female candidate lost. Let’s try that again later, when the election isn’t as important. Be satisfied with a VP nod.

Warren has a freshness and momentum that Bernie Sanders, her closest competitor, lacks. Her followers are near-fanatical; in August, the New York Times reported that she may be the most popular Dem running, drawing fans by the thousands. Trump will call her “Pocahontas” for her Native American debacle, but he can’t bully her the way he did Hillary. There’s no troublesome husband, no sleazy foundation exposed for self-dealing and favor-trading. Warren’s unofficial slogan, “I have a plan for that,” underscores her readiness and reason for running.

Biden, on the other hand, can’t quite pull that together. Back in April, when asked why Democrats should choose him as the one to beat Trump, here’s what he said: “That’ll be for the Democrats to decide.”

He’s low-energy on the trail and lacks what has become an essential trait: true star power.

Seriously? Imagine if Trump uttered such a tautology. (Not to mention what similar incoherence did to Ted Kennedy in 1979.)

Five months later, Biden still hasn’t come up with a solid reason. When even the Times runs a story headlined “Does Joe Biden Want to Be Doing This?,” as they did last week, one might reconsider demanding the nomination and promising victory.

“We are in a battle for the soul of this country,” Biden likes to say, but that sounds rather lofty when we all know what will decide 2020: the economy. “Stronger Together” was Hillary’s similarly esoteric slogan and premise in 2016, and we all know what decided that election: the economy.

Elizabeth Warren, love her or loathe her, has very definite ideas about the economy. She, unlike Biden, has called for the breakup of Big Tech. (He is “open” to it.) Her fight isn’t for the soul of the country but for the middle class. All those things we’re told make Biden inevitable — the hardscrabble childhood, the intellect, experience, stoicism and grit — Warren has in spades.

This Thursday, for the first time, voters will see Warren and Biden head to head in a primetime televised debate. If Biden’s track record is any indication, there’s every reason to expect Warren will dominate. In that case, Dems would do well to reconsider what “electable” looks like.