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The Book on Biden

 Joe Biden wasn't really well-loved, for most of the duration of the primaries. If he had been more of a juggernaut, perhaps Buttigieg, Warren, Harris, Booker, and several others wouldn't have tried to attract the liberal-but-anti-Bernie vote.

Biden ran a clumsy campaign; he would sometimes yell at voters, and his choice of insult could remind people of his advanced years ("You're a lying dog-faced pony soldier!")

But luck was on Biden's side. The non-Bernie liberal candidates became a "circular firing squad." Klobuchar went after Buttigieg; Warren went after Bloomberg. 

As Biden searched for a vice-presidential candidate, he showed some reluctance toward Kamala Harris, a figure known for ridiculing her own aides, and someone whose team once famously attacked Biden, then drummed up merchandise sales with tee shirts that commemorated the attack. ("I don't think you're a racist, but.....")

Could Biden choose Stacey Abrams? He called her. "I don't doubt your abilities, but you've never held office on a national scale." Abrams had an answer: "You talk about systemic racism? Black women haven't had the opportunities you've had....If you're insisting on choosing a Black woman who has also held national office....you might think about this in terms of fairness." Abrams went on: "I was the most Googled political figure of 2018...."

You know what happened next.

I find the book "Lucky" intermittently frustrating; the writers have a habit of mixing up their pronouns, and there are weirdly lengthy repetitive chunks, as if someone forgot to do the editing. (I understood pretty quickly the dimensions of Biden's "I-won't-defund-the-police" problem, and I found it odd that the writers kept returning, and returning, and returning to their explanation.)

But here's something positive I'll say about "Lucky." I'm fascinated by "the peripheral," the tiny detail--and the writers deliver here. Where was Michelle Obama sitting when she gave her convention speech? Where did Ivanka get one particular handbag, and how much did it cost? What went into Pete Buttigieg's famous remarks on Mike Pence?

Clearly, I can't put this book down.
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