“Joe Biden’s not Hillary Clinton, thank God,” one senior Biden adviser said about any attempt from Team Trump to paint him as a Hillary clone.

It’s also prompted some Trump lieutenants, and even the president himself, to start practically longing for the good ol’ days of having Clinton as their foe. As recently as last month, Trump privately joked how great it would be if Biden ultimately didn’t secure the nomination this summer and Clinton would have to step in, so that he could beat her harder than he did last time around, according to two sources close to the president.

“It would be nice, for sure, if we were running against a replica of Hillary,” a senior Trump administration official said. “But only Hillary Clinton is Hillary Clinton.”…

Part of Biden’s advantage, they concede, is that he has never been perceived as a boogeyman in conservative circles like Clinton was for decades prior to Trump’s arrival on the national scene.