Joe Biden

Joe Biden is most widely known as former President Obama’s vice president. It is widely believed that he offers the democratic party their best chance at beating Trump. He as largely based much of his current campaign image off of this idea. But let’s take a deeper look into who he is as a person and some of the policies he advocates for.

Biden was born in 1942 in Scranton PA. He graduated from Delaware University with a double major in History and Political Science. Upon graduating he enrolled in Syracuse University to go Law school which he completed in 1968. During his time in law school he had to retake some of his classes due to issues with plagiarism that he was accused of doing. Something that would later become an issue during his run for Senate.

In 1972, Biden decided to run for Senate and with little funds or outside spending managed to pull off a stunning upset over the incumbent Republican senator. However, just a few weeks after his election, his wife and one-year old daughter were killed in a tragic car accident. He considered retiring to focus on raising his two sons but was convinced to finish out his term. During the next 5 years he remained a singled father and would ride a train back home (a 90 minute ride) each day to ensure that he remained an active part of his sons lives. In 1977, he remarried and continued with his political career. This led to him running for the democratic nomination in 1988 and again 2008. He failed to win the nomination either time but remained an active senator. After his attempt to win the nomination failed in 2008, he was asked to run as Obama’s vice-president and upon their election, he served two terms in this role. He took a break during the 2016 election cycle but remained active in the political world. Which gets us to today where he is the front poll runner for the democratic nominee.

The platform issues that he advocates for is probably the lest radical of the democratic candidates. It is still very far left compared to his former campaigns and even much of his voting records while a senator. I included a quick read from Politico that lists out the major platform issues if you want to find out for yourself.

https://www.politico.com/2020-election/candidates-views-on-the-issues/joe-biden/

Now the big question that all is hounding the Democrats during this Primary race is, can Biden (or any of the other candidates) beat Trump? Personally, if the Democratic party would ease up on some of their hard-line stances they take and try to appeal to the middle of the political spectrum (which is where most of Americans beliefs are) then this would be an easy victory for them. However, they just can not seem to figure that out. Now back to the question of can Biden beat Trump. Personally, I don’t think he can. The semi-awkward way he handles himself on the debate stage and kind of just general way he carries himself I think will get eaten up by Trump’s aggressive and crude approach. To handle Trump and the constant tirade of insults you would get from him would require a temperament that I just do not think Biden quite has. I do think though that Biden has just enough support to win the Democratic Primary though and would present an extremely difficult challenge to Trump due to his experience and the good will he has gotten from his time as Obama’s vice president. I just do not think he is the Democratic Party’s best chance at beating Trump. And to find out who that person is, well stay tuned.