And remember: This wouldn’t be a modest come-down for a once-formidable presence on the campaign trail. Biden has run for president, and gone absolutely nowhere, twice — in 1988 and again in 2008. Why would we expect him to connect more powerfully with voters now, when he’ll be a decade past the traditional retirement age? Just because he’s a selectively charming old white guy with an impressive resume?

Every one of those qualities is likely to be a liability for a Democrat aiming to defeat President Trump in 2020.

Even worse: Biden is very much a man of his generation in his tendency to get a little handsy with women. That would be bad enough in the #MeToo era. But when it’s combined with his decidedly chilly attitude toward Anita Hill while chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings on Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court back in 1991, we’re left with a candidate quite likely to antagonize women in 2020.