He is worthy of criticism. But daily blistering attacks could easily weaken Democrats in 2020.

Joe Biden at his 2020 campaign kickoff rally. Source: Wikimedia

Ever since his entrance into the 2020 primary race, former Vice President Joe Biden has been the clear frontrunner. He has topped every state-level and national poll since before his announcement. Biden also rates well in head-to-head match-ups against Trump in important swing states such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Biden momentum has slowed somewhat in recent weeks as Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg have gained polling ground, but Biden still leads in Iowa as of the Des Moines Register’s most recent poll.

This position has led to enormous leftist criticism of Biden. Pundits have trashed his policy proposals, his personal behavior, and his comments about Republicans. Many of these comments have been hyperbolic. “Joe Biden Would Be A Disaster,” a headline for The Intercept blared in May. Jamelle Bouie at the New York Times accused Biden of continuing to propagate “a liberal cover to white backlash.” Rebecca Traister at New York magazine went further. She blamed Biden partially for the horrors of Trumpism, writing,

so much of what is terrifying and dangerous about this time — the Trump administration, the ever more aggressive erosion of voting and reproductive rights, the crisis in criminal justice and yawning economic chasm between the rich and everyone else — are in fact problems that can in part be laid at the feet of Joe Biden himself.

It is still early in the primary season. But as the election grows closer, this tendency toward extreme criticism has the potential to become a dangerous self-inflicted wound for Democrats as they enter the general election.

This is no reason to hold Joe Biden above criticism. In fact, Biden has committed a list of infractions over his long career that deserve significant scrutiny. He has embellished and outright lied about aspects of his past. He worked against liberal positions on busing, abortion, and crime throughout his career in the Senate. His behavior around women makes many of them uncomfortable and should be addressed. Biden has also prioritized lofty rhetoric over concrete reforms. This continuance of President Obama’s approach to governance increases the likelihood that Biden will not make the structural changes needed to secure Democratic power.

But those who attack Biden with the strongest vehemence are failing to apply any sense of perspective or long-term strategy to their comments. They cannot envision a world in which Joe Biden becomes their nominee. Therefore, they constantly attack him and prop up their preferred candidates. But what if the most likely scenario, a Biden victory, does occur? Most likely, those same critics will rally around Joe Biden, praising his loyalty to Obama or his support of the Violence Against Women Act. The damage, however, will have already been done. There will be millions of tweets, Facebook comments, and attack articles for Republican operatives and Russian bots to spread across the country. Every hyperbolic Biden comment increases the chances of another 2016 fiasco, when 1 in 10 Bernie Sanders supporters ended up voting for Donald Trump.

Leftists should not stop critiquing Joe Biden throughout the primary season and beyond. Such critiques are the only way that Biden will shift his proposals and his campaign to the left. But these same critics should remember Biden’s potential. He may be the nominee one day, and as the nominee he will need all of the support he can get from every liberal blogger, activist, and commentator in the country. Democrats frequently say they want to learn the mistakes of 2016. Treading carefully with their Biden critiques would be a good start.