Democratic Candidate Spotlight: Joe Biden

As the former Vice President, Joe Biden has a lot to live up to if he wants to become the next President.

Will Fisher, Staff Reporter|December 13, 2019

Democratic Candidate Joe Biden speaking at a rally in New Hampshire.

In the world of the Democratic Primaries, there are a plethora of candidates that are fighting for each and every vote. However, the one candidate that has gotten the most media coverage is Joe Biden. Since Biden was the former Vice President, he was almost instantly put into the position of the front-runner. Many Democrats think that Biden was a great Vice President during the Obama Administration and think that he would do a great job as the next United States President. Another reason that he has gotten so much media coverage is because of his special relationship with President Trump. President Trump has attacked Biden the most out of all of the current Candidates. Also, President Trump allegedly was going to cut off funds to Ukraine if they didn’t give President Trump info on the Biden family.

Before Biden was Vice President, he ran to become a Senator in the state of Delaware. His first election was in 1972 and he was projected to lose the race in a landslide. However, Biden won the election and was voted into the US Senate. He was elected when he was 30 and became the sixth-youngest senator in US history. While he was senator, Biden was on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also had two presidential runs, one in 1988 and one in 2008. In 2008, he lost to future President Barack Obama and was selected to become his running mate.

Pete Souza
Joe Biden and Barack Obama vibing in the Oval Office.

The top three policies that Biden presents is helping rebuild the middle class, having respected leadership on the world stage, and making sure that democracy includes everyone. With the first topic about rebuilding the middle class, Biden wants to make sure that families across the United States are able to have a plethora of economic freedom that they don’t have currently. With this, Biden is trying to shorten the economic gap that exists in the United States. Currently, with wealth inequality in the US, the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. The main way that Biden wants to rebuild the middle class is to invest in middle-class competitiveness. In this plan, Biden says that he wants to rebuild America’s infrastructure and make sure that the middle class is able to compete and win in the global economy. Along with this, Biden wants to create better jobs for Americans so that they can join the middle class and stay in it. With this, Biden wants to make sure that every part of the United States is affected in a positive way and that no one is left behind.

“

This country wasn’t built by Wall Street bankers and CEOs and hedge fund managers. It was built by the American middle class.

— Joe Biden

On the global stage, Biden wants to renew how the world looks towards and at the United States. Biden thinks that the US has lost some of the prestige that it used to have on a global scale. The first step that Biden thinks that we need to take is to make sure that American values are protected and preserved not only overseas but internally as well. He wants to make sure that Democracy across the world is protected because it is the role of the United States to do so. With this, Biden wants to make sure that our alliances overseas are secure. He says that we need to make sure that our allies know that we have their back and that we continue to work with our allies in a way that works for the betterment of people all across the world. Biden wants to take back the claim of being the world leader.

“

America is strongest when we lead not only with the example of our power, but the power of our example.

— Joe Biden

Finally, Biden wants to protect Democracy across the United States so that all Americans are able to practice democratic principles. Biden says our politics are broken and that someone needs to come and fix them. The first thing that Biden wants to protect is the right to vote. He says that we need to make it easier for people to vote because it is one of, if not the most, important right that people have in the United States. Also, he wants to make sure that no foreign power is interfering with our elections (this was, and still is, a big deal with the most recent 2016 Presidential Election). In addition, Biden wants to end the power of big money in our government. Biden wants to get rid of special interest groups and corporations that are destroying the policymaking in Washington D.C.

In the most recent national poll, Biden was ahead 5 points which is a much smaller lead then what he had earlier in the year. Earlier this year, almost all polls in the US said that Biden was going to win the election. However, the Democratic base is starting to shift to a different candidate. With newer polls coming out, Pete Buttigeig and Bernie Sanders have started to gain traction with more candidates dropping out of the race. Many young Democrats think that Biden is out-of-touch with the rest of the party and that the party needs to shift in a more progressive way. Also, the rivalry that Biden has with President Trump has made voters uneasy about all of the things that Biden and his family have done in recent years. Only time will tell if Biden is able to hold on to the lead that he has had and become the next Democratic Candidate.

Link to Joe Biden’s website: https://joebiden.com/