Will Vice President Joe Biden run for president? News anchors across the board say political signs point to Biden committing to a decision within the next 48 hours. That way he eclipses Hillary Clinton’s testimony before the Republican-led House Benghazi committee. If Biden doesn’t jump into the presidential race before then, he faces plummeting poll numbers and a public grown weary.
It was Beau Biden, his dying son’s, last wish, which makes me believe his father will run. Beau (Joseph Robinette Biden III) served as Delaware Attorney General and in Iraq for the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG). But the vice president has been putting us on hold for months as he goes about his vice presidential duties and works through his grief. Even Stephen Colbert could not get Biden to commit one way or the other when the vice president was on his show, “Late Night Show With Stephen Colbert.” Colbert could get me to commit in less than 10 seconds.
What is keeping the vice president on the candidate fence? Beau Biden died in May from brain cancer, and Vice President Biden wants to know that he and his family are emotionally well enough to meet the demands of a presidential run. Their grief runs deeply, especially since Biden also lost his first wife and young daughter in a car accident when his sons were small.
People are taken with Biden’s authenticity, his commitment to our military people, his work with veterans, and his humanity. At the Greek Orthodox Church’s Athenagoras Human Rights Awards, Biden quoted Beau:
“Put one foot in front of the other, as my son Beau used to say, just keep moving forward. It is my faith that has kept me moving forward.”
New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman wrote Friday “We Are Already Months Into the Biden Campaign.” Should Biden decide to run, he has already taken many of the steps that are essential preparation for his presidential campaign. These include:
• Meetings with major labor officials
• Phone calls to a number of potential backers
Billionaire grocery-store magnate John Catsimatidis has a Sunday morning radio show, “The Cats Roundtable,” where he said:
“I was with Vice President Joe Biden last night. He was in New York. I spent about five minutes with him. I don’t know — I think he may run. You never know.”
Right now, Clinton is leading in most of the polls, with Bernie Sanders a close second. Sanders laid claim to much of the enthusiasm and the majority of of voters under the age of 30. Many fear that a number of issues could blow up in Clinton’s face, including her use of a private email server. If Biden runs, he would give voters a more mainstream alternative to Sanders.
Biden gave us a sense of who he is in a story he told at the Athenagorus awards:
“My dad said, ‘Joey remember one simple thing. Every single person in the world is entitled to be treated with dignity.’ That’s what makes me so proud to be associated with all of you at the Greek Orthodox Church. It’s an extension of everything my father ever taught me.”
All of the political signs pointing to a Biden run are just speculation. The decision ultimately rests on Biden’s final gut decision; but the longer he waits, the lower his chances of winning. As much as people have enjoyed flirting with Biden, they are ready to move forward or break up with him.
