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So Bob is out.

In a move that really should have surprised no one, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey announced last week that he will not run for president next year.

There is, meanwhile, another white male son of Northeastern Pennsylvania whose name hangs above the whole contest.

Will Joe run? Could Joe win?

Let’s consider Casey’s exit before mulling that.

“2020 is not the time for me to run for president, but it is the right time for me to continue to fight the battles I have fought as U.S. Senator and state official. I have no doubt that our Democratic Party will nominate a candidate who can win Pennsylvania and the presidency,” Casey said in a statement released Friday.

How I read that statement: “I acknowledge am not that candidate.”

Pennsylvania’s senior senator knows it — and he knows we know it — which is not a slam on Casey.

It’s going to take a Democrat with both gravitas and some serious “wow” factor to dethrone The Donald — assuming, of course, that President Trump secures his party’s nomination, which is a reasonably safe assumption if he remains president.

My gut reading of the coming race is that the Democrats may look to nominate someone who is as different from Trump as possible, in keeping with the spirit of the times in their party.

That spirit is increasingly female and nonwhite.

Of the eight Democrats who had thrown their hats into the ring as of Monday night, four were female — of whom two (Tulsi Gabbard and Kamala Harris) are of mixed-race — and two of the men (Andrew Yang and Andrew Castro) are the children of non-Anglo-Saxon immigrants.

Most people reading this can remember a time, not so very long ago, when the slate of prospective Democrats would invariably have been led by white men, mostly Protestants.

Some of the most talked-about names in the new Congress, meanwhile, belong to nonwhite women who are also challenging the president, the GOP and the status quo in their debuts: Whether you love them or loathe them, you know who Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib are.

In that context, it’s hard to imagine someone like Bob Casey breaking through the national pack as easily as he would here in Pennsylvania.

It’s no stretch to imagine Casey carrying his home state in a presidential contest, given his easy victory against Lou Barletta in last year’s Senate contest. Could he win that nomination, though? Clearly there were doubts, and those doubts will be instructive for anyone seeking the gig.

Casey has depicted himself as a pro-life Democrat. But while he opposes Roe V. Wade and public funding for abortions, he supports funding for Planned Parenthood (which, Casey has said, helps prevent abortions by providing access to family planning and birth control).

At a time when abortion remains a litmus test for many voters in both parties, Casey’s middle-way approach to the issue would be sure to alienate True Believers in both camps across the country, where his name recognition is lower.

In the #metoo era, millions of American women are decisively signalling that they’re done with men making decisions about their health. In that context, it’s hard to imagine a pro-life white male winning the Democratic nod anytime soon, but not impossible.

Maybe Biden, though?

A Catholic like Casey, Biden has made it clear that he believes abortion is wrong, and over the course of his long Senate career has cast votes that supported both sides.

Biden does have the national name recognition Casey lacks, though. And the scrappy kid from Scranton is the sort of street fighter who would attack Trump in a way many lesser mortals would shy away from.

But can the septuagenarian statesman stir the souls of Millennial voters who are clamoring for more diverse leadership, waxing poetic over Beto or pining for the second coming of Bernie?

If there’s an old white male who fits the bill, Uncle Joe is probably the guy. The question is whether he wants the fight. We’ll know soon enough.

Meanwhile I wouldn’t write off Bob Casey as a figure on the national stage — perhaps as a veep, or more likely as a high-ranking cabinet member.

For now, though, he says he’s committed to the state.

“The people of Pennsylvania have given me the privilege of being the first Democrat, and one of only five senators in more than 100 years, to be elected to a third term. I am grateful for the honor of serving the people of our Commonwealth in the years ahead and to continue my work on their behalf,” Casey said Friday.