After months of reflection, former US vice president Joe Biden was yesterday set to launch his US presidential bid, positioning the veteran Democrat as a frontrunner among the many candidates seeking to challenge US President Donald Trump next year.
The party’s 76-year-old senior statesman, whose announcement was expected to arrive via online video post, would become the most experienced and recognized Democrat in the race, dominating early polls following months, even years, of campaign planning.
Biden, whose working-class appeal remains intact despite nearly half a century in Washington politics, is seen as a comforting, known quantity for US voters who are to be vetting about 20 Democrats now officially in the presidential field.
Photo: AFP
Yet recent controversy over his tactile style, particularly with women, could dampen a rollout that he envisioned as the final main entry to the Democratic primary battle.
Biden aides remained tight-lipped this week about the early campaign.
However, people familiar with the Democrat’s plans told US media that after the launch, he would head to Pittsburgh, in the swing state of Pennsylvania that Trump won in 2016, on Monday to address a labor union gathering, in his first public appearance after throwing his hat in the ring.
The record number of candidates means Biden faces a field of unprecedented diversity as he makes his third run for president, following unsuccessful attempts in 1988 and 2008. After the death of his son, Beau, from cancer, Biden passed on a presidential campaign in 2016.
As he let the suspense over his political plans drag out for months this year, his broad lead has been whittled, with newer and notably young faces gaining ground including moderate South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who at 37 is less than half Biden’s age.
Complicating matters, the last weeks of waiting have been clouded by revelations from multiple women accusing Biden of touching them inappropriately or making them feel uncomfortable with his affection.
Biden, an old-school politician who acknowledges he is quick to offer hugs and shoulder rubs as he forges connections with voters, has not outright apologized for his behavior, but he pledged earlier this month to be “more mindful” about society’s changing boundaries.
He remains atop most recent polls.
With 29.3 percent of the vote, Biden leads leftist US Senator Bernie Sanders who is at 23 percent, a poll aggregate by Web site RealClearPolitics showed.
US Senator Kamala Harris is third at 8.3 percent, followed by Buttigieg at 7.5 percent, progressive US Senator Elizabeth Warren at 6.5 percent and former US representative Beto O’Rourke at 6.3 percent.
Biden leads the pack largely on the strength of his lifelong political experience — he was elected to the US Senate at just 29 — and his name recognition.
Yet in the early stages of what is to be a heated primary battle, the status of frontrunner is by no means assured.
“The key question is whether Biden’s current support represents more of a floor for him than a ceiling,” said Kyle Kondik, communications director at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
“If it’s a floor, he’s in great shape. If it’s a ceiling, his candidacy could fall apart quickly,” Kondik added.
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