Could Joe Biden be the man for this season?

The vice president has been running for president since Hillary Clinton was first lady of Arkansas. His first campaign, in 1988, fizzled over allegations of plagiarism.

His second, in 2008, limped to a humiliating close with Biden winning less than 1 percent of voters in the Iowa caucuses. He received most attention for unwise comments about Indian Americans (“You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts [in Delaware] unless you have a slight Indian accent”) and Barack Obama (“articulate and bright and clean.”)

But there is an argument that 2016 could be Biden’s year — a moment that will reward, even celebrate, his loose-lipped authenticity and his from-the-gut middle-class politics. In Iowa the other day, Donald Trump received thunderous applause when he proposed outlawing teleprompters. In 2016, Biden’s unscriptedness could be appealing.