I'm half joking, but I'm sure Biden was offered something in exchange for not running.
He was "offered" the opportunity to not end his political career with a humiliating 3rd place finish.
Come on, Biden would've done better than Sanders.
Nah. There's a reason that even after months of universally positive pro-Biden fellatio from the media he was still polling a solid 3rd place and had trouble cracking 20%. He would've gotten a post announcement bounce, then it would've been all downhill from there. Bernie's base wasn't going to abandon him, particularly since it was smaller at that point. Most of Hillary's voters were set in their choice at that point as well. There was no huge appetite from Democratic voters for a Biden run outside of the media.
I don't get why Atlas thinks there was so many "I really hate that shrill nasty far right bitch Hillary, but her opponent is a spooky socialist!!!! If only I had Joe Biden to save me!" voters. It reminds me of the theories posted here in 2014/2015 about how Martin O'Malley could find a niche, lol. Most people unhappy with Hillary were perfectly happy with Sanders, and vice versa.
Biden even said himself he didn't run because he knew he'd lose.
