Tossing his hat into the ring, 76-year-old former Vice President Joe Biden enters a crowded Democrat presidential primary campaign with 20 other candidates. Biden carries with him instant name recognition, serving six terms [36 years] in the U.S. Senate and eight years in the White House with former President Barack Obama. Ignoring questions about his age and the Democrat Party’s ideological lurch to the left, Biden offers another strident voice against 72-year-old President Donald Trump, Democrats’ most despised GOP president in recent U.S. history. “We are in the battle for the soul of this nation,” Biden said in a video clip announcing for president. “If we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of our nation—who are we. And I cannot stand by and watch that happen,” setting up his campaign theme.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who ran a competitive campaign against 2016 Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, warned Democrat candidates April 15 at a Fox News Town Hall meeting in Bethlehem, Pa., that only slamming Trump won’t take the White House. Biden’s opening salvo against Trump suggests that it’s going to be hard to distinguish his message from some 20 other Democrat candidates, all of whom like bashing Trump. Since the Muller Report came out March 22, essentially clearing Trump of criminal wrongdoing when it came to Russian collusion and obstruction of justice, all Democrats have talked about is impeachment. Biden looks like he’s joining the Democrat anti-Trump bandwagon, accusing him of everything but the kitchen sink. Biden won’t be able to control the message once he’s off videotape.
Biden automatically leaps into front-runner status by virtue of name recognition but has the disadvantage of a long track record with six terms in the Senate and two terms in the White House. Biden was the Chairman of the Judiciary Hearing Oct. 11, 1991 when he defended Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas against accusations of sexual harassment by Thomas former law clerk Anita Hill. Biden sided with the late Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and other GOP members of the committee attacking Hill’s credibility. More recently, Biden was accused of inappropriate touching by former Nevada Lt. Gov. candidate Lucy Flores and several other women. Yet Biden claims he’s just an affectionate guy, whose brand of politics is “connecting with people.” Biden wants to direct all his ire toward Trump but will no doubt face many questions about his inappropriate behavior toward women.
Launching his campaign on videotape, Biden hoped to control the message, and the camera angles, making him look more youthful, when showing his age in person. When it comes to campaigning at a furious pace, no one knows how Biden will hold up against his more youthful Democrat rivals, especially against Trump, whose campaigning runs a breakneck speed. Unlike other Democrat candidates, Biden runs on the Obama legacy, something he’s proud to do but something that might present problems when getting down in the weeds. With the Mueller report shifting to the origins of the FBI’s counter-intelligence operation against Trump and his campaign, Biden will be questioned about what he knew about it, a when he know it. As the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz gets closer to his findings about Obama administration FISA abuse, Biden’s name could turn up.
Biden wants to run on his Scranton, Pa. working class background, something long gone but still a selling point to union and working class voters. While there’s no doubt that African Americans will back Joe, there are lingering questions whether he can galvanize the youth or crossover vote. Unlike his former boss, former President Barack Obama, Biden doesn’t have the same appeal or message to young people. Running only on slamming Trump won’t address current themes in the Democrat Party pushed by Bernie and others for Medicare-for-all, free college tuition and student loan debt forgiveness. Biden walks a razor’s edge because of his track record as a centrist Democrat, crossing the aisle to vote with Republicans on bipartisan legislation, something looking more unthinkable today. Democrats in the House have little in common with anything Trump.
Biden’s going to have a hard time taking clear positions that mirror current trends in the Democrat Party, including whether or not to support Medicare-for-all, free college tuition or student loan debt forgiveness. On the foreign policy front, Biden finds himself in a minefield opposing Trump’s close ties with Israel. Biden’s views on Mideast peace more closely mirror Obama’s, who had a rocky relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden backed the Iranian Nuke Deal and Paris Climate Accords, both of which Trump cancelled. While Biden considers his strength foreign policy, he has the opposite problem with Wall Street and the U.S. economy. It’s going to be difficult for Joe to attack Trump on the economy, not because the published metrics but because he’s not comfortable talking about the economy. It’s remains to be seen whether big Democrat donors line up behind Joe.
