Hill.TV host Krystal Ball warned Democrats on Monday against ultimately nominating former Vice President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee even if he remains a frontrunner in national polls, arguing that going with the candidate who seems the safest isn’t always the best bet.
Ball pointed to a recent CBS poll showing that an equal number — 53 percent — of voters in Iowa and New Hampshire described Biden as a “safe” choice to become the Democratic nominee even though few voters didn’t see him as an exciting one. By comparison, just 16 percent said the same of rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in New Hampshire, as did 20 percent in Iowa.
“For decades, pundits have been force-feeding candidates like Biden to Democratic primary voters,” Ball, a vocal Sanders supporter, said Monday. “Al Gore is electable, John Kerry’s electable, Hillary Clinton’s electable — just like Biden, voters came to see them as the ‘safe’ choice.”
“There is nothing safe about an uninspiring candidate,” she added. “Democrats are not excited about Joe and I can promise you the rest of the country won’t be either.”
The same CBS poll released on Sunday showed Sanders, Biden and former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg in a three-way tie for the top spot in Iowa. Each of the three contenders received 23 percent support in the state, based on the poll.
The survey also found Sanders leading in New Hampshire with 27 percent support, with Biden trailing at 25 percent. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) garnered 18 percent support, while Buttigieg received 13 percent.
However, nationally, Biden still maintains a 9-point lead over Sanders. Biden boasts 29 percent support compared to Sanders’s 20 percent, Warren’s 14 percent and Buttigieg’s 8 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics average of national polls.
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