2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: If Biden enters the race: [View all]Flying Squirrel
(3,041 posts)The VP is always the odds-on favorite to win, historically. It would definitely hurt Hillary's chances. (Note the defensive responses from Hillary supporters, which would indicate that the possibility worries them). Probably hurts O'Malley because that sucks away any chance for him to gain publicity and exposure. So the question is, does whatever hurts Hillary and O'Malley help Bernie?
Obviously if Biden wins the nomination it hurts all three. If he doesn't win, by the time he dropped out it would be too late for O'Malley. If Biden entered, I think he'd take more away from Hillary than Bernie. This would strengthen Bernie in the short term. If Biden subsequently had to drop out, I would expect this would be due to unexpected strength from Bernie, not Hillary.
So, it either hurts all three or it hurts Hillary and O'Malley. Politics is very emotional and I see Bernie supporters as being more invested than Biden supporters, so I'd give the edge to Bernie.
(Option 3)