Analysis: Joe Biden checks the 'electability' box... for whom, exactly?
By Vanessa Williams Vanessa Williams Reporter on the National desk. Email Bio Follow April 26 at 9:54 AM About US is an initiative by The Washington Post to explore issues of identity in the United States. Sign up for the newsletter.
Biden, 76, who formally launched his campaign this week, is the front-runner not because he is a white man, his fans say, but because he has the experience and name recognition to take on the president. Democratic voters have told pollsters that the most important quality for their party’s nominee in 2020 is “electability.” Some are willing to compromise on some of their personal demands if it means denying Trump a second term. But among the diverse groups that make up the Democratic Party, there is disagreement about what constitutes that electability.
“I still think that white-male privilege is a stubborn thing, so it does persist, and it persists especially at the presidential level because this is the level of office in which we’ve seen so little diversity among both candidates and officeholders,” Dittmar said. “So, when we think about what is expected in our candidates and what is perceived as viable, it is certainly attached to the prevailing images and ideas about who can be president.
Dittmar said Hillary Clinton proved a woman can get the majority of votes in a presidential contest — even if she didn't win the electoral college. So what do people really mean when they express doubts about a woman's electability?
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