Obama remained skeptical about Biden’s chances. With decades of presidents winning by running against Washington, with the demographics of the Democratic Party shifting far away from the Biden memories of its old core in Scranton, and with the world a long way from those dinners around the kitchen table with his grandfather that Biden would always talk about, it seemed like a stretch. Obama knew Trump would try to turn a campaign against Biden into a run against his legacy, and he wasn’t keen on leaving that fight to Biden to handle.

His friend Deval Patrick, meanwhile, was the rare person whose political skills actually impressed Obama, and who seemed to him to be a possibly credible uniter of the country.

— Battle for the Soul by Edward-Isaac Dovere (Page 84)