Welcome to the Never Biden era

Of course, there is a key difference between the backlashes against Biden and Trump. Three years ago, the Republican Party was attempting to save itself from radicalization, which took the form of a racist nativism whose rumblings the Never Trump collective wanted to quell entirely, or at least to keep quiet. Now, much of the Democratic Party is attempting to save itself through radicalization — championing the upheaval of the economic order and foreign policy consensus.

Electing someone who wants to bring back pre-2016 America isn’t just unsatisfactory; it’s a threat. The leftward lurch in policy positions and priorities happened after Trump’s victory, so why would progressives want to turn back the clock? “Best Friends Day” bracelets desperately reminding voters of a long-ago bromance with Barack Obama aren’t the comfort Biden wants them to be.

But is the threat enough to spook him into retirement? Never Biden Democrats, after all, may not remain Never Biden. Many Never Trump Republicans did not end up saying never — and the current president is so unpalatable to Democratic voters that it would take a lot to keep them from voting against him. And besides, like last time around, those who dislike the front-runner may be more noisy than numerous. Plenty of people do like Biden, in poll after poll. The Twitter pundits and columnists in left-leaning publications may think they’re talking to America when they’re actually only talking to each other.