Henry J. Gomez reports:

It can be easy to miss and hard to put your finger on, especially when Biden leads the Democratic presidential field in polling and puts on his aviator-clad frontrunner’s face. But Biden presents with a vibe of doubt. He can come across as a candidate who’s worried that he’s running out of time — and that he’s wasting yours. And he’s not always sure how to make the most of it.

Sometimes Biden talks too much, like he did at the Asian & Latino Coalition forum and another event last week where he shouted over music meant to play him offstage. He has a tendency to step on his own applause lines and quiet the cheers, as if he needs to reassure his crowds that what they’re clapping for is legit. “Not a joke,” Biden likes to say.

Sometimes Biden doesn’t talk enough. He tells crowds about the plans he has, but he insists that sharing all of the details would keep them there longer than they would like. He loves to reminisce about his eight years in the Obama administration, but not so much about old Senate votes or friendships with segregationists. When responding to Sen. Kamala Harris’s attack on those grounds at a June debate, Biden abruptly finished his rebuttal with seconds to spare and a line some heard with a dual meaning: “Anyway, my time is up.” [Continue reading…]