Former vice president Joe Biden is unsure whether he will run for president in the 2020 race. A planned 2016 bid for the candidacy ended when his foremost proponent and son, Beau Biden, died at the age of 46 from brain cancer. Since the 2016 election, Biden has been critical of current president Donald Trump but retains that he is not sure whether attempting another presidential bid is “the appropriate thing to do.”
Joe Biden has had a 44-year career in politics. Biden became a Democratic senator for the state of Delaware in 1972 and served as such until 2009 when he became part of Barack Obama’s ticket in the 2008 presidential election. Biden’s second term as vice president ended in 2017 with Trump’s inaguration. As of now, Biden is not actively discussing whether or not he will run for president in 2020 and is not collecting donations for a potential campaign. However, he does not oppose the idea of helping a Democratic hopeful in the 2020 presidential campaign.
“Something’s got to happen, man. We’ve got to turn this ship around. But I’d much prefer to be helping someone turn it around than being the guy turning it around,” Biden said in an interview with Vanity Fair.
In a recent poll conducted by Huffpost Pollster, Biden has an approximately 55 percent approval rating among Americans. Another poll concluded 74 percent of Democrats view Biden favorably as a potential presidential candidate, followed by Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California.
Despite positive poll results, Biden recognizes that finding the next generation of Democratic leaders is essential to the survival of the party. He is currently focused on supporting colleagues in the Senate. Twelve of the 14 candidates Biden endorsed in the Nov. 7 election won, including Danica Roem, a transgender candidate who won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. A person close to Biden stated that the former vice president is working intently on supporting and helping to elect Democrats at all levels of government. Biden is paying very close attention to the current political environment in the United States but has not stated whether or not his next political move will be a bid for the White House.
Photo courtesy of New York Trend.
