Which do you like better?
These?
Or these?
- Joe they're the same
They capture different moves.
Middle Class Joe.
Amtrak Joe.
The Uncle-in-Chief.
Joe Biden has spent nearly half a century working in politics
and cultivating an image of a man you’d trust with national security
and want to grab a beer with (though of course Biden is teetotal).
The former senator and vice president isn’t without ambition though.
He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988
and lost.
He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008
and lost.
He considered a run again in 2016
but stepped aside after the death of his son Beau.
Could 2020 be third-time lucky for Uncle Joe?
Joe Biden was born on November 20th, 1942 in Scranton, Pennsylvania
into an Irish Catholic family,
and lived with his parents for many years in his grandparents’ house because
his father could not find enough work.
Eventually, the Biden family moved to Wilmington, Delaware
after Joe Biden senior found success as a used car salesman.
In 1966 Biden married Neilia Hunter, who he’d met two years earlier during spring break in the Bahamas.
They had three children: Beau, Hunter and Naomi.
While they were dating Biden had told Neilia that he wanted to be a senator by the age of thirty
and then president
and true to his word he was elected to the U.S. Senate on November 7th, 1972
just days before his 31st birthday.
He had been something of an outsider in that race: Biden’s campaign had no money and was mainly
managed by family members, and he was up against a two-term Republican incumbent.
It was his ability to connect with voters’ emotions, and his youthful energy in contrast to his
ready-to-retire opponent that sealed the deal.
There was little time for celebration though.
On December 18, 1972, Biden’s wife and one-year-old daughter Naomi were killed in a car accident.
Beau and Hunter survived, with minor injuries.
Biden considered quitting before he had even been sworn in, but was persuaded against it
though he had trouble focusing on work at first.
A devoted father, Biden would commute 90 minutes each way from Wilmington to D.C.
so he could be with his sons
and left orders that he be interrupted in the Senate at any time if his sons called.
He never works on December 18th, in remembrance of Neilia and Naomi.
In 1974, TIME magazine put him on its list of 200 Faces for the Future
profiling him as self-confident and compulsively ambitious.
One year later he met Jill Tracy Jacobs, and they married in 1977.
Biden made his first bid for president in 1987, aiming to be the youngest president since Kennedy.
I announce my candidacy for president of the United States of America.
And this party better understand full well,
that it’s about time we change our attitude
and we began to change the attitudes of Americans about what their responsibilities are to the poor,
about what their responsibilities are to other people
and about what our responsibility in the world is
and that requires changing attitude.
His campaign began well enough, but was mired by staff in-fighting and accusations
of plagiarism in speeches
and he withdrew later that year.
There’ll be other presidential campaigns,
And I’ll be there all if not.
I'll be there.
From 1987 to 1995 Joe Biden was the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
and oversaw the contentious confirmation hearing of Clarence Thomas in 1991.
As one person who has spent the past two years
attempting to combat violence of all kinds against women through legislative efforts.
I can assure you, that I take the charge of sexual harassment seriously.
He initially kept Anita Hill’s sexual harassment accusations from the public,
and after she agreed to testify did not allow any further witnesses to come forward against Judge Thomas
Biden opposed the nomination at both committee and Senate level.
After being criticized for his handling of the hearing, and the poor treatment of Anita Hill
Biden sought out women to serve on the committee.
In January 2007 Biden announced he would seek the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination,
but did damage to his campaign before it had really taken off when he was quoted
as saying this about rival Barack Obama:
I mean you have the first sort of main stream African American
who is articulate and bright and clean
and nice looking guy. I mean that’s a storybook man.
The senator from Delaware had trouble fundraising and drawing people to his rallies,
and made little impact in a race that included high profile candidates like Obama
and then-New York senator Hillary Clinton.
After placing fifth in the Iowa caucus, he withdrew from the race
but was later tapped by Obama to be his vice presidential running mate.
The rest, as they say, is history…
Until now.
Biden has the advantage of being one of the most experienced candidates
with name recognition across the U.S.
He can also use his connections to Barack Obama
even if the former president never publicly endorses a candidate.
Biden appeals to moderates and older voters
and could also win over the all important African American vote
from within the Democratic primary electorate.
He may also be seen as one of the best options
against President Donald Trump,
what with his appeal to blue collar workers
who didn’t vote for Clinton last time,
and his reputation as someone not afraid
to get in a verbal slinging match with the president.
The press always ask me don’t I wish I were debating him.
No, I wish I was in high school so I could take him behind the gym
That’s what I wish.
His age might have once worked against him
but the success of the then 74-year-old Bernie Sanders
and the election of a 70-year-old Donald Trump suggests that maybe voters don’t care
all that much about how old their candidates are, but more about the message they preach.
Essentially, Joe Biden is a safe pair of hands
and that might just be what the Democratic party needs in 2020.
A man who embraces
the tactics of our enemies
Torture
religious intolerance
You all know.
All the Republicans know.
That’s not who we are.
It betrays our values.