Hillary Clinton’s strong debate performance sent a definitive message to her four other rivals on the stage — and a potential contender watching from afar. Vice President Joe Biden has long ruminated over a White House bid, but Clinton’s sharp showing has quieted much talk of a need for a Democratic alternative.
The Delaware Democrat's name was never uttered over more than two hours of debate that centered largely on Clinton and her top adversary, Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. And former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley positioned himself as the heir apparent to President Barack Obama's agenda — the very void Biden would seek to fill.
The vice president’s time is running short, and an impending deadline in Georgia may force his hand. The Democratic Party of Georgia’s leadership meets at the month’s end to decide who will appear on the ballot for the party’s March 1 presidential primary, making Georgia among the earliest states to choose its slate of Democratic candidates.
Biden's aides have leaked word that he'll likely make up his mind within the next week or so, and that Tuesday's debate performance didn't factor into the decision. He told reporters Wednesday in Washington that he "thought every one of those folks did well."
Biden the ‘clear loser’?
But many Democrats saw Clinton's commanding performance as a sign of Biden's narrowing path. And Sanders' decision to give her cover on the question of her use of a private email server during her stint as secretary of state — Americans are "sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails," he said — likely deprived Biden of a juicy route to attack her.
John Hudak, a fellow with the Brookings Institute and the author of the FixGov blog, declared Biden the “clear loser” of the Tuesday debate and said Democrats are no longer hungering for another option.
“He waited a bit too long and let history write itself for him,” Hudak said. “Most Democrats looked at that debate last night and said there was something for them. Whether Sanders or Clinton or even O’Malley. But Democrats didn’t come away wanting something different. They want someone who has already declared.”
Supporters of Clinton, who announced Wednesday an Oct. 30 visit to Atlanta, moved quickly to reaffirm the sentiment that her smooth performance put to rest the concerns of a nervous base after a tumultuous summer of nagging email questions and sagging poll numbers.
“She was so good on the issues. She came out strong on everything,” California Democratic U.S. Rep. Judy Chu said. “She presented the best vision for the future and she showed her compassion — and that she could relate to all Americans.”
Even Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner who watched the debate while mocking the candidates on Twitter, praised Clinton as the candidate who “did what she had to do.”
"She got through it fine," he told ABC News on Wednesday. "It was a very kind debate, very gentle. She came out the winner."
A Georgia deadline
Biden’s decision will be made no easier by the looming Georgia meeting.
The state party's executive committee will meet Oct. 29 to decide which candidates who have sent letters requesting to appear on the Georgia ballot will make the cut. Filing deadlines for Democratic candidates in the early-voting states of South Carolina and New Hampshire — as well as a range of Georgia's neighbors — are later in November.
There still may be leeway in Georgia if Biden hasn’t made up his mind by then. Party spokesman Michael Smith said the process is “by no means exclusionary” and that Biden could still petition Democratic leaders to get his name on the ballot before a Dec. 1 cutoff from the Secretary of State’s Office.
Still, that may be a tall order. Most of the Democratic establishment in Georgia — including party Executive Director DuBose Porter and a slew of Gold Dome leaders — is firmly in the Clinton camp. And her strong performance in Tuesday's debate may have helped quell concerns from any local doubters in that crowd.
At an event late Wednesday in Henderson, where she picked up an endorsement from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, an upbeat Clinton declared that she felt “really lucky in Las Vegas.”
As to whether Clinton would face a new challenge from Biden, she was more circumspect.
“I’m going to continue to run my campaign and make my case for my candidacy. And everyone else, whether they’re in or they’re not in, will have to make whatever judgment is best for them,” she said, adding: “I just think he needs to decide what’s best for him and his family.”
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