Joe Biden is 'uncoachable' in debates and 'can't stay on the script,' says Democratic strategist

Joe Biden.
(Image credit: JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images)

It may seem hyperbolic at this stage of the primary, but several political strategists view this week's Democratic debate in Detroit as a crucial moment for former Vice President Joe Biden. And they're mixed on whether he's up for the task.

The consensus is that Biden struggled in the first round of debates last month, delivering a performance Politico described as "anemic." The possibility of a redux in Detroit has some of his own donors and admirers nervous, no matter how — or how much — he prepares.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.