Former Vice-President Joe Biden has formally declared himself a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States.
This is the third time Biden, 76, has sought this office. The longtime Senator from Delaware did so previously in 1988 and in 2008. He withdrew during the '88 campaign amidst revelations of plagiarizing speeches of British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. Two decades later, his campaign would come to end after he finished a distant fifth in the Iowa caucuses. Not only did Biden finish behind Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, but John Edwards and Bill Richardson as well.
There is no way in the world Biden would be given any serious consideration now if he hadn't been Obama's number two for eight years. Despite his longstanding association with Obama, there is a significant segment of Democrats who are completely unenthusiastic about his presence in the campaign (i.e. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) and who are generally discontented about "old, white males".
However, what Biden does have going for him is that he is a brawler. If there is one Democrat who counterpunch President Trump, it would be Biden. Trump is going to draw blood and Democrats will need someone who can bloody Trump. But when I hear Biden claim, “I get calls from people all over the world — world leaders are calling me — and they’re almost begging me to do this, to save the country, save the world,” I hear Trump in his voice.
But sounding like Trump is very different from acting like Trump. For all his gaffe proneness, I don't think Biden would behave in a criminal manner and repeatedly lie and demand others lie on his behalf nor do I believe he would accuse the FBI of treason while giving Russia and North Korea a pass on their behavior.
With that said, should Biden get the Democratic Party nomination I won't rule out voting for him. But we are a very long, long way from crossing that bridge. Because that bridge could be burned down by Democrats who want a change in their guard.
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