Former Vice President Joe Biden has tried hiding out to sit on his lead, but already, he is embroiled in two major plagiarism scandals.

Biden’s strategy is called hugging the ball. Biden knows he’s in the lead, knows if the Democrat primary election were held today, he would walk away with it, so he’s hoping to sit on his lead by being seen and heard as little as possible because that’s the safest way to run out the clock.

Even with this strategy, though, the former vice president again and again proves he’s not ready for primetime.

Twice before, in 1988 and 2008, Biden spectacularly flamed out as a presidential candidate and, at least so far, it does not look as though the 233-year-old is going to be able to change his inept ways.

Nationally, Biden is 18 points up over the 147 other Democrats hoping to unseat Trump in 2020. He also holds double-digit leads in the all-important early primary states. His problem, though, is that we are eight whole months away from the first votes, and that is a long time to try to protect a lead, to pretend you are someone else.

But that’s Biden’s strategy. He hasn’t done any major interviews. He didn’t show up over the weekend with the other Democrat candidates in California. He didn’t even hit the campaign trail on Memorial Day. Biden thinks he can win by hiding in a cloak of elder statesman inevitability — you know, give a speech here; release a position paper there; run out the clock as his opponents claw each other to pieces while he rises above it all.

Nevertheless, even with the disappearing act, Joe Biden is still Joe Biden, which means he is already embroiled in TWO major plagiarism scandals. Good grief, all he had to do was properly credit the sources of his latest policy proposals (climate and education) and all would be well. But Biden is a proven plagiarist going back to his college days and couldn’t bring himself to do that. Instead, he wanted all the credit for himself, and now, it’s the 1988 presidential campaign all over again where Biden is back to explaining why he stole someone else’s work. In ’87, this scandal forced him to drop out, and already in ’19, he’s back at it.

What kind of dimwit makes these kinds of mistakes and does so in a New Media world where the corrupt establishment media cannot protect him?

On top of that, he’s been running around joking about his well-documented inappropriate touching of women and children–and did so just days after repeating that inappropriate touching.

And let’s not forget that simmering in the background are the potentially massive China and Ukraine scandals involving his son Hunter. So far, Biden’s been able to rely on the kindness of the anti-Trump media to keep this quiet, but his dodgy response does not bode well for the future, especially if he does end up facing off against Trump, who will tattoo “China Joe” not only with the shady but very lucrative deals his son was involved in, but the senior Biden’s refusal to take China seriously as an economic threat to American jobs and prosperity.

Big money deals in China…

Soft on China…

Sounds like grounds for a major collusion investigation…

I believe those are the New Rules.

Biden has made so many errors and is seen so infrequently, it seems as though every time he does pop out of his shell, we get a fresh look at the same ol’ Slow Joe Biden we’ve known for 35 years.

Another mistake is this attempt to present himself as the elder, experienced statesman. This phony illusion will be his undoing when it eventually shatters, which is inevitable as soon as the Real Joe Biden is forced to actually compete, to go to work earning votes.

Look at what has already happened…

Even with Biden holding as few public events as possible, his 27-point lead against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), his closest challenger, melted down to just 18 points in two short weeks.

Sure, Biden could win the nomination. That is certainly possible. But my theory is this…

The only reason it feels like there is a presidential election going on right now is that we in the media enjoy covering it for a sizable but relatively small group of political junkies.

Real voters, though, the rank-and-file Democrats who will decide the nomination, are not paying attention. Hell, it is still spring. What they are thinking about are the kids getting out of school, vacations, fishing, summer camp, barbecues, baseball games… In the meantime, when polled, they are parking their support on Biden because they know him.

Come Labor Day, though, everything will change as the race begins in earnest, which means millions of Democrats will start to pay attention and be on the lookout for what all primary voters look for: a candidate they can fall in love with.

Biden is not that guy. He’s ancient, dull, a dullard, white, male, and represents the past. He’s Walter Mondale Part 2, and if you are going to unseat an incumbent, you need a Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan. You need someone who excites the base.

That is not Joe Biden.

That doesn’t mean he won’t win the nomination or beat Trump, especially if the economy goes south. But Biden is still Biden, and if you think he’s screwing up now, just wait until he can no longer hide…

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.