Jazz may be right. Hillary Clinton probably will remain the inevitable Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, even if only because the Democratic Party is woefully short on viable alternative presidential candidates.

A variety of Democratic opinion makers have begun to engage in the unthinkable process of envisioning what a post-Clinton 2016 field might look like if the former secretary of state’s campaign capsizes under the weight of her own carelessness and flagrant disregard for the law. The latest to join the chorus of speculators is National Journal’s Emma Roller who perhaps advertently highlighted the fact that the sitting Vice President of the United States is far down on the list of prospective 2016 replacements by only mentioning Joe Biden in the 13th paragraph – after self-described socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“Alright, what about Joe Biden?” she asked. “He has hinted at being interested, but it’s hard to see the vice president, whose past presidential campaigns have flamed out, being perceived as anything but Obama Lite.”

That’s it. Summarily dismissed. Even despite the fact that, according to national polls of Democratic voters, Biden maintains an average level of support greater than even Sen. Elizabeth Warren. While the journalistic class has largely given up on the vice president’s ability to serve as a compromise candidate in the event of a Clinton implosion, Biden certainly hasn’t.

According to a report in The Washington Post, Biden’s close allies are sensing that there is blood in the water around Clinton’s 2016 bid… and the sharks… they’ve come cruisin’.

“There’s always another shoe to drop with Hillary,” [former South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Dick] Harpootlian said in an interview Wednesday. “Do we nominate her not knowing what’s in those e-mails?… If the e-mails were just her and her family and friends canoodling about fashion and what they’re going to do next week, that’s one thing. But the fact that she’s already turned e-mails to the Benghazi committee because she was doing official business on it means she’s going to die by 1,000 cuts on this one.”
…
Referencing Biden specifically, he said, “I’ll tell you this: He ain’t got no e-mail problems. He ain’t got no foundation problems. What you see with Joe is what you get. There’s nothing hidden there.”

Harpootlian added, “The chatter down here is, ‘Is this the best we can do?’ Certainly everyone wants to give a woman a chance to lead this country, but is [Clinton] the woman? There are plenty of other women who would be competitive, whether it’s Elizabeth Warren or Amy Klobuchar or Kirsten Gillibrand.”

There’s plenty more where that came from. Harpootlian went on to criticize Clinton’s carefully managed coterie of fawning, obsequious admirers, none of whom apparently advised her that it would be unwise to maintain as stealth email account or allow her family’s foundation to accept foreign donations while she served as America’s chief diplomat. The former party official raised the valid contention that, at the very least, Clinton’s judgement is questionable.

Clearly, Barack Obama’s vice president isn’t any Democrat’s third, fourth, or even fifth choice to replace Clinton at the top of the Democratic ticket in 2016. 2017 will likely mark the quiet end to a political career that has spanned four decades. Sadly for America’s Uncle Joe, the Democratic Party that was once his ideological home has left him behind in the long march to the left.