In a call to a senior Democratic lawmaker on March 12, 2020, Biden reportedly said he will run, according to The Hill. Biden reportedly discussed campaign strategy and asked for the lawmaker’s support.
After deciding not to run for president in 2016 after the death of his son Beau Biden, Biden said in 2016 he will run in 2020. While he did not commit in 2016, NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell reported Biden all but said as much, stating “Yeah I am. I am going to run in 2020,” he said. “What the hell man, anyway,” he added.
Now, more and more potential candidates are declining to run the 2020 presidential race, making more room for Joe Biden to announce his candidacy. Among Democrats, Biden is polling ahead of Bernie Sanders, but not by much. His anticipated announcement is growing increasingly eleventh hour. There is concern among his supporters that Biden is losing financial contributors to other candidates as he continues not to announce his intentions.
“Several have said it’s concerning that he can’t seem to make up his mind,” Quirk-Garvan said. “If you’re going to run for president, most people want someone who’s pretty damn sure they want to be president,” Charleston [South Carolina] County Democratic Party Chairman Brady Quirk-Garvan said.
He’s Almost Ready
GettyFormer Vice President Joe Biden.
The New York Times reports Biden is “95 percent committed to running.” Meanwhile, Sherrod Brown and Michael Bloomberg are the most recent 2020 dropouts.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) completed a tour of early caucus and primary states before announcing he would stay in the Senate. Jeff Merkley made the same decision last week.
At the same time, Biden hired Cristobal Alex, who resigned as president of the influential political organization Latino Victory, to join the Biden camp. Alex made the announcement on March 5, 2019.
In Tweets, Alex has shared he sees 2020 as the year to “flip Texas blue” and to “Make no mistake: the @realDonaldTrump administration is trying to limit power of #Latino & #AAPI voters by adding a citizenship question to the #census.”
Texas could “be the most important battleground in the country for the 2020 elections,” reports Dallas News.
Meanwhile, Biden2020.com is on the market having been privately registered together with TeamBiden.com, PresidenteBiden.com, LatinosporBiden.com, and VotoLatino2020.com.
Can Biden Raise the Money?
GettyFormer U.S. Vice President Joe Biden delivers a keynote address at the Brookings Institution.
“Questions about money are among the nagging issues Biden is still considering as he weighs launching a campaign,” reports the Associated Press. Biden is reportedly gathering funds before making the announcement.
“I think he’d raise more money than several of the top candidates combined,” Don Peebles, a two-time member of the former president’s national finance team, told the AP. “He’s the best chance that the Democrats have to win in November.”
“Nearly 65 percent of the voters said Biden, 76, who was also a U.S. senator first elected in 1972, has more experience than any other candidate and should enter the race, while 31 percent said his time as a candidate has passed,” reports Reuters.
Biden’s wealth of political experience, he will be 77 in November, means a long work history to criticize, for better or worse. Biden’s association with President Obama’s successes reportedly works in the favor of his potential candidacy.
The former US Vice President is expected to announce his intentions in the coming weeks.
READ NEXT: Maryland Democrat Uses The N- Word During Conversation With Colleagues: Report