Pity poor Joe Biden. He is caught between a socialist and a hard place. That hard place being his chances in November.

Recently Biden has decided to suck up to Bernie Sanders, as well he might. Joe says he wants Sanders to be a “partner on this journey.” And true, Sanders and his associates do represent a significant number of Democrats. Problem is, they represent anathema to the American people.

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This has transpired before. In 1968 sitting Democrat veep Hubert Humphrey awkwardly tried to bring Gene McCarthy and George McGovern’s communist fellow-traveling anti-war flower children into a big Democrat tent for November. What happened? Republican Richard Nixon was elected and, if you count the number of ultra-right George Wallace Electoral College votes in with a rejection of Hubert, Humphrey and his lefty pals got clobbered.

However, Democrats don’t read history or, they wouldn’t be modern Democrats.

If Biden was smart he’d steal a page from an electorally successful Democrat candidate for president, Bill Clinton, and he’d gamble by pulling a Sistah Soljah moment on Sanders.

For those of you who may not remember, Clinton lured radical cop-hating rap singer Sistah Soljah into a forum then let her have it with both barrels. He thus established himself as a perceived moderate and convinced swing voters it was safe to elect a Democrat after twelve years of that party wandering in the political wilderness.

So, even at the convention, if Biden were to call out Bernie on his socialism, imagine the points he’d get for guts from swing voters. And it would sure make for a hell of a ratings bonanza, as AOC and her Squad would go completely crazy for cocoa puffs in front of a lot of television viewers. That is, if the Democrats have a convention at all.

But either way, it would be a courageous call on Biden’s part and would only hurt him with those who were not going to vote for him anyway because he is too far to the middle for their taste. Though again, it’s a gamble. But then Joe, without it, the ghost of Hubert Humphrey will soon be haunting your dreams.