Team Joe wasn’t a popular place to be back in May of 2019 when I was invited to a fundraiser in Hancock Park at the home of wealthy donor Cynthia Telles. The Democratic Primary had only just begun, but it was wide open then and almost no one wanted Joe, an old white guy.

For four years, the party had lost its mind and lost its way over Trump. They seemed to believe he was such a bad president they could reach for the sky. Big structural change! A democratic socialist! The first gay president! But I knew that a one-term president with a strong economy doesn’t get voted out.

Maybe they’d swap out for someone like Joe Biden, some of us believed. What harm could he do? He could be a one-term stop-gap measure to bring down Trump without rocking the boat too much. Calm from chaos, the adults back in the room, rolling the country back to the last time they felt safe under Barack Obama.

Indeed, Joe Biden was old, white, and male—not the future the Democratic Party wanted—but Joe could win. The Vice President would be where we’d find our dynamic candidate to step up once Biden’s first term was over.

Even Biden seemed to understand his role in the coup. He wouldn’t have to do much, and he wouldn’t even have to campaign at all. There was a massive, unprecedented alignment of power ready and willing to win the election for him.

I sensed he knew this after he emerged from the mansion with the donors who paid more to sit down with him. He reminded me of so many celebrities I’d seen in the past who knew they would be getting nothing but favorable coverage. They aren’t worried. They’re confident.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.sashastone.com/subscribe