Before we start fitting Joseph R. Biden for a new inauguration suit we need to ponder a question posed by a friend of mine in an email overnight from w-a-a-a-ay down yonder … in South Australia.

My friend Peter follows U.S. politics closely and he asks this about Biden: And is he fit enough and sharp enough to take on Trump head-to-head, given the President will lie and cheat with impunity and without shame or pause for reflection?

Peter asks a good question, but I want to frame it a bit differently. The former vice president of the United States, who barreled through several primary victories Tuesday — including right here in Texas — first has to get past Bernie Sanders, who exhibited a continuing feistiness while declaring victory of his own.

Sanders got thumped in many of the states across the South. He did win in Vermont, in Colorado, Utah and he won the big prize in California. He isn’t going anywhere. He is in the fight to the finish; at least that’s what he is saying.

I was heartened to see Biden lift himself off the deck with a stellar run of victories. He is a long way from being nominated. It remains an open question at this moment whether he or Sanders will have enough delegates to win the nomination without a floor fight at the convention. Part of me sort of yearns for an actual fight, something to return these nominating conventions to what they were intended to be when the parties conceived of them.

However, I remain committed to hoping that Joe Biden emerges from this campaign in shape to take on Donald Trump.

Peter is absolutely correct. The current president of the United States will stop at nothing to smear, sully and slander his foe. He already has sought foreign government help in undermining Joe Biden’s candidacy, an act that resulted in his impeachment by the House of Representatives. The Senate acquittal only will embolden him to commit even more outrageous acts.

I also remain hopeful that Joe Biden would prepare himself for the onslaught that would come at him full force. He does exhibit some nagging tendencies to commit unforced verbal errors. Those must end. Now! He has to be on top of his game.

However, the once-prohibitive favorite to be the Democratic nominee has retaken his frontrunner status in the race to face Donald Trump. He is far from the clear favorite, but the fight is on.