Meet young Joe Biden, the 'Wild Stallion who'd never felt the bridle'

33 years after his first presidential run and 48 years after his debut in national politics, his moment may finally be now

There’s a reason that a certain kind of journalist makes a quadrennial habit of reading “What It Takes,” Richard Ben Cramer’s gonzo classic about the 1988 presidential primary. It’s catnip to prose snobs. It’s a New Journalism masterpiece, freckled with ellipses, popping with sound effects. And it shows, better than perhaps any campaign book in the last half-century, what metabolically and psychologically distinguishes those who seek the presidency from those who consider eight nonspectacular hours at their day jobs triumph enough.

But today, this minute, there’s an even more compelling reason to read it. Cramer followed just six candidates that