Joe Biden gives thumbs-up to Doug Jones in Alabama U.S. Senate primary
Former Vice President Joe Biden gave thumbs-up to former federal prosecutor Doug Jones in his bid for the Democratic nomination for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat. Al.com reports that Biden is featured in a robocall Thursday urging voters to cast ballots for Jones in Tuesday’s special primary to decide who will finish the term of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Jones’ campaign published the text of Biden’s robocall on Facebook: “Doug has spent his entire life fighting for justice. He was the man after the 1963 church bombings that would not let it rest until he found the killers of those four young girls — and he eventually found justice — prosecuting and jailing those Klansmen nearly 40 years later. He’ll take that same energy and drive and fight for you and your families in the Senate — for a higher minimum wage, for fair, affordable health care, for good schools for all our kids. Doug Jones will make a great U.S. Senator so please make sure you get out and vote on Tuesday — and I’m hoping you’ll vote for my friend, Doug Jones.” With Biden taking sides, both Obama and Trump administrations have weighed in on the Alabama U.S. Senate election. Donald Trump tweeted his support for sitting Sen. Luther Strange this week. Also supporting Jones is Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham. In a Raycom poll conducted last month, Robert Kennedy Jr. — no relation to the famous Kennedy family — is leading the Democratic race with 49 percent, compared to 28 percent for Jones. Jones and Kennedy are part of an eight-person field that includes Will Boyd, Vann Caldwell, Jason Fisher, Michael Hansen, Brian McGee and Charles Nana. Unless one of the candidates can secure a 50 percent plus one majority of the vote in the Aug. 15 primary, Alabama voters will have to decide between the top two vote-getters in a Sept. 26 runoff. The general election is Dec. 12.
Valerie Jarrett, top Obama adviser, working on book
Valerie Jarrett, one of Barack Obama’s closest and longest-serving aides during his presidency, has a book deal. Viking told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Jarrett is working on a book that will combine personal history and civic advice. The book is currently untitled and scheduled for 2019. “I don’t want to just tell my story,” Jarrett, a senior adviser during both terms of the Obama administration, said in a statement. “I want to share the experiences, life lessons and values that have shaped who I am and my ideas for the future.” According to Viking, Jarrett will describe her “circuitous journey” from childhood to the White House. Her book will be “a story of history, biography, politics and activism — and will provide ideas about leadership and being a good citizen in the 21st century.” “From her work on ensuring equity for women and girls, protecting civil rights, reforming our criminal justice system and protecting working families, Jarrett will share lessons learned about making change and her optimistic vision for what the future holds,” Viking announced. Financial terms for the book were not disclosed. Jarrett was represented by Creative Artists Agency, which also worked on deals for books by former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden. Jarrett, 60, has been friends with the Obamas for more than 25 years, when Jarrett was serving as deputy chief of staff for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and hired Michelle Robinson, then engaged to Barack Obama. She later became CEO of the Chicago-based Habitat Co. and chair of the board for the Chicago Stock Exchange, among numerous other positions. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Joe Biden encourages Mitt Romney to run for Senate in Utah
Former Vice President Joe Biden has encouraged onetime GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to run for the Senate in Utah if longtime Republican incumbent Orrin Hatch decides to retire next year. Biden made the recommendation to Romney on Friday evening at the Utah resort where Romney was hosting an annual invitation-only business and politics summit. The Biden-Romney event, like most of the discussions and speeches at the gathering, was closed to reporters. But people who were there confirmed the conversation and described it as a warm, bipartisan talk. Romney did not give any indication he was considering a run, should Hatch, 83, decide not to run again next year, said one person in attendance, Maryland videographer Dean Dykema. “Mitt didn’t have a chance to ask many questions because Joe pretty much took over the show,” Dykema said. Hatch, who has been in office since 1977, has said he hasn’t decided if he’ll seek another term but he might step aside if Romney ran. The 70-year-old former Massachusetts governor now lives in Utah, where he’s remained popular as the man who led a turnaround of the scandal-plagued 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and as a prominent Mormon businessman and politician in a state that’s home to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In April, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he reached out to Romney about running for Hatch’s seat, but said he’d support the longtime senator if he decided to run again. Hatch has said that he hopes everyone in Utah could get behind Romney and avoid a divisive primary contest like the one in 2010 that ousted his close friend, the late Utah Republican Sen. Robert Bennett. Bennett was defeated by a tea party-backed Republican, Mike Lee. On Friday in Utah, Romney and Biden did not discuss the 2012 election where they ran on opposing tickets, but Biden did discuss the 2016 election. He made some comments critical of President Donald Trump, but said he felt his own party and its candidate Hillary Clinton failed to connect with some key voting blocs, including millennials and those in working-class states where Biden was sent as a surrogate for the campaign. Biden also discussed a need for bipartisanship in Congress, lamenting how Republicans and Democrats don’t sit together anymore in the Capitol dining room, and spoke of his efforts to improve cancer research, a cause he has focused on since his son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, died in 2015 of brain cancer. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Joe Biden launching fundraising PAC amid 2020 speculation
Former Vice President Joe Biden is launching a political action committee amid speculation that he may run for president in 2020. Biden plans to announce Thursday that he’s forming the “American Possibilities” PAC. The committee will allow him to raise money for candidates and maintain relationships with longtime donors. In an email to supporters and a Medium post, Biden plans to say that “the negativity, the pettiness, the small-mindedness of our politics drives me crazy.” Biden isn’t mentioning President Donald Trump by name but says that kind of politics is “not who we are.” The 74-year-old Biden has said he probably won’t run for president in 2020 but hasn’t totally ruled it out. He strongly considered running in 2016. Biden’s former White House aide Greg Schultz will run the PAC. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Post White House, Joe Biden collaborating with 2 universities
Now that he’s left the White House, former Vice President Joe Biden will split his time between programs at the University of Delaware and the University of Pennsylvania. Officials announced Tuesday that Biden will establish a new domestic policy institute at the University of Delaware and will head a foreign policy institute for the University of Pennsylvania. The foreign policy center will be located in Washington, D.C., but Biden also will have an office on the Penn campus in Philadelphia. Biden will be founding chair of UD’s Biden Institute, a research and policy center focused on issues including the economy, the environment, civil rights and criminal justice. It will be part of the university’s School of Public Policy and Administration. He has been named Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he will lead the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Donald Trump hits campaign themes in inaugural speech
The Latest on Donald Trump‘s inauguration as the 45th president of the United States: 12:15 p.m. In his inauguration speech, President Donald Trump is repeating the dark vision and the list of the country’s woes that he hit on during the campaign. Trump describes closed factories as “tombstones” that dot the county and says the federal government has spent billions defending “other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own.” The Republican president says the U.S. “will confront hardships but we will get the job done.” He says the oath of office he just took “is an oath of allegiance to all Americans” and said that the country will share “one glorious destiny.” ___ 12:14 p.m. President Donald Trump says Americans came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement “the likes of which the world has never seen before.” Trump says the United States exists to serve its citizens. He says Americans want great schools, safe neighborhoods and good jobs. But he says too many people face a different reality: rusted-out factories, a bad education system, crime, gangs and drugs. Trump says the “carnage stops right here and right now.” ___ 12:05 p.m. President Donald Trump is beginning his inaugural address by saying that “together we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come.” He says Americans have “joined a great national effort to build our country and restore its promise for all people.” It began to rain in Washington as Trump started speaking. Trump also thanked all of the past presidents in attendance, including former campaign foes Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. ___ 12 p.m. Donald Trump is now the 45th president of the United States. He’s just taken the oath of office on the West Front of the Capitol. The combative billionaire businessman and television celebrity won election in November over Democrat Hillary Clinton, and today he’s leading a profoundly divided country — one that’s split between Americans enthralled and horrified by his victory. The unorthodox politician and the Republican-controlled Congress are already charting a newly conservative course for the nation. And they’re promising to reverse the work of the 44th president, Barack Obama. Up next is Trump’s inaugural address — where the new commander in chief is expected to set out his vision for the country’s next four years. ___ 11:55 a.m. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administered the oath of office. President-elect Donald Trump chose Pence, the former governor of Indiana, as his running mate last summer. ___ 11:45 a.m. U.S. embassies and consulates in at least 10 nations in Asia, Europe and Latin America are warning of potentially violent protests through the weekend against the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president. Security notices posted by U.S. diplomatic missions in Chile, Denmark, France, Greece, Haiti, Italy the Netherlands, Paraguay, Portugal and the Philippines advise American in those countries to steer clear of embassies and consulates on Friday and, in some cases, on Saturday and Sunday. That’s due to the possibility of unrest and clashes with police. The notices say the planned demonstrations are either focused on “U.S. politics” or are “inauguration-related.” ___ 11:32 a.m. President-elect Donald Trump has taken the stage for his inauguration. The Republican businessman from New York flashed a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was introduced. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence took the stage at the Capitol minutes after President Barack Obama and members of his family and administration. Trump will soon be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. ___ 11:30 a.m. Hundreds of people who worked for President Barack Obama are arriving at Andrews Air Force Base to hear some final parting words from the soon-to-be ex-president. Hours before Obama was to speak, former White House and administration staffers are gathering in a hangar where a small stage with a lone American flag was set up for him. Obama and his wife, Michelle, are leaving the Capitol by military helicopter after witnessing Donald Trump’s swearing-in, and they’re being flown to the base in Maryland just outside Washington. The Obamas will vacation in Palm Springs, California. ___ 11:25 a.m. The dais is filled for the inauguration on the West Front of the Capitol. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have taken their seats. And President-elect Donald Trump‘s family is ready. The stage is set for Donald Trump to be sworn in as the next president of the United States. ___ 11:20 a.m. In the crowd gathered on the National Mall for the inauguration, there’s no shortage of fans of Democratic figures. Big cheers went up when images were shown of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who ran for president against Hillary Clinton. But the biggest cheer so far for a Democrat has gone to first lady Michelle Obama. She received sustained applause as people watched her appear on the television screens. ___ 11:15 a.m. As Donald Trump and President Barack Obama made their way to the Capitol, police were confronting a group of demonstrators wearing black in downtown Washington and using what appeared to be pepper spray. Protesters were carrying signs denouncing capitalism and Trump. Police cordoned off about 100 demonstrators who chanted “hands up, don’t shoot.” A helicopter hovered overhead. ___ 11:10 a.m. President Barack Obama and his successor, Donald Trump, have arrived at the Capitol for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony. Trump is joined by his family, including his five children Eric, Don Jr., Ivanka, Tiffany and youngest son, Barron. ___ 11:05 a.m. Incoming first lady Melania (meh-LAH’-nee-ah) Trump is wearing a sky blue cashmere jacket and mock turtleneck combination by Ralph Lauren for Inauguration Day. In a statement, the Lauren Corp. says: “It was important to us to uphold and celebrate the tradition of creating iconic American style for this moment.” Mrs. Trump’s hair is in a soft updo and accessorized with long suede gloves and matching stilettos. She was greeted at the White House by President Barack Obama
Donald Trump arrives in Washington with a wave and a salute
Ready for his big moment, Donald Trump swept into Washington on a military jet Thursday and quickly set to building better ties to the Republican Congress as he kicked off three days of inaugural festivities. Washington braced for an onslaught of crowds and demonstrators — with all the attendant hoopla and hand-wringing. Trump was quickly taking on more of the trappings of the presidency, giving a salute to the Air Force officer who welcomed him as he stepped off the jet with wife Melania at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington. His first stop was a luncheon in a ballroom at his own hotel, where he gave a shout-out to GOP congressional leaders, declaring: “I just want to let the world know we’re doing very well together.” House Speaker Paul Ryan, he said, will finally have someone to sign legislation into law. Then Trump veered into the territory of the unknowable to declare his Cabinet selections had “the highest IQ.” Just blocks away, the White House was quickly emptying out. President Barack Obama‘s schedule was clear beyond his daily briefing and his final weekly lunch with Vice President Joe Biden. Vice President-elect Mike Pence, in a tweet, called Inauguration Eve “a momentous day before a historic day,” as security barricades and blockades went up around Washington in preparation for Friday’s swearing-in ceremony and all of the hoopla and hand-wringing that comes with it. “We are all ready to go to work,” Pence said at a morning news conference. “In fact, we can’t wait to get to work for the American people to make it great again.” Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said he’d be putting on his “favorite DHS jacket” and taking to the streets to inspect security preparations for the inaugural festivities. He told MSNBC’s Morning Joe that areas where inaugural crowds will congregate will be “extra fortified this year with dump trucks, heavily armored vehicles to prevent anybody who’s not authorized from being in the area from driving something in there.” He said there was “no specific credible threat” related to the inauguration. Trump’s public schedule for the inaugural celebration starts with an afternoon wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery. Next, a welcome concert on the steps of Lincoln Memorial ending with fireworks. The two-hour concert, open to the public, was to feature country star Toby Keith, soul’s Sam Moore, actor Jon Voight and The Piano Guys. Also performing: Lee Greenwood, DJ RaviDrums, 3 Doors Down, and The Frontmen of Country, featuring Tim Rushlow, Larry Stewart and Richie McDonald. It won’t include singer Jennifer Holliday, originally announced as one of the headliners. She backed out after an outcry from Trump critics. Before departing for Washington, Trump announced his final Cabinet choice: former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue for agriculture secretary. Spokesman Sean Spicer said the president-elect was continuing to make “edits and additions” to the inaugural address he’ll deliver at Friday’s swearing-in. Never mind about Trump’s gilded private plane: He arrived on a Boeing 757 that is part of the fleet of military planes that become Air Force One whenever the president is aboard. The president-elect, who flew to Washington without any press on his plane, was joined on the trip by a gaggle of his children, grandchildren and other members of his extended family. Also spotted: bags of dresses and formalwear for the coming days’ festivities. At the luncheon, Trump invited his future first lady to speak, and Melania Trump told the crowd, “Tomorrow we’re starting the work,” adding that “there’s “a lot of possibility and a lot to take care of.” The president-elect made sure to work in a plug for his hotel, saying, “This is a gorgeous room. A total genius must have built this place.” Reporters covering Trump’s remark were removed from the room before the president-elect finished speaking. Ebullient Trump fans were ready for a three-day party. Eleanor Haven, 83, of Alexander City, Ala., was among those drawn to Washington for what she said would be a “wonderful” inauguration. She and her son, Scott Haven, 56, said they had never been to an inauguration before, never even been to a political rally before attending a Trump “thank you” event in Alabama. “He fought hard for the American people,” Scott Haven said, adding “I think he really has an earnest view of trying to help the working people of America and I think that’s the attraction of him.” New York Republicans kicked off their inauguration festivities with a breakfast Thursday morning at a downtown hotel. The crowd, smushed into a ballroom to hear former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, roared as New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox boasted that a kid from Queens was going to be the next president of the United States. “It’s going to be a remarkable couple of days,” Gingrich said. “Certainly this is the inauguration that no one in the news media was ready for.” He went on to describe Trump as “part P.T. Barnum” and predicted he would be one of the country’s most accomplished presidents. Keeping a wary eye on the weather forecast for Inauguration Day, the National Park Service announced that it was easing its “no umbrella” policy for Friday, allowing collapsible umbrellas along the parade route and on the National Mall. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Joe Biden: Donald Trump should retain sanctions on Russia
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, on a last foreign trip before leaving office, has met with Ukraine’s president and called on the impending Donald Trump administration to retain Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia. Biden’s comments Monday at a briefing with President Petro Poroshenko came after Trump indicated in a Times of London interview that he could end sanctions imposed in the aftermath Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea in return for a nuclear arms reduction deal. “The Crimea-related sanctions against Russia must remain in place until Russia returns full control to the people of Ukraine,” Biden said. Other U.S. sanctions are connected to Russia’s involvement in the separatist war in eastern Ukraine. Biden said that Russia must fulfill its obligations under the 2015 Minsk agreement on ending that conflict. Republish with permission of The Associated Press.
Joe Biden: Intel officials told us Donald Trump allegations might leak
Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that top intelligence leaders told him and President Barack Obama they felt obligated to inform them about uncorroborated allegations about President-elect Donald Trump out of concern the information would become public and catch them off-guard. In an interview, Biden said neither he nor Obama asked U.S. intelligence agencies to try to corroborate the unverified claims that Russia had obtained compromising sexual and financial allegations about Trump. “I think it’s something that obviously the agency thinks they have to track down,” Biden said. He added later, “It surprised me in that it made it to the point where the agency, the FBI thought they had to pursue it.” In the hourlong session with The Associated Press and other news outlets, the vice president was sharply critical of Trump for publicly disparaging intelligence officials, saying Trump was damaging U.S. standing and playing into Russia’s hands. He also took umbrage at Trump’s comments accusing intelligence agencies of allowing the information to leak publicly and drawing a comparison to “living in Nazi Germany.” “The one thing you never want to invoke is Nazi Germany, no matter what the circumstances,” Biden said. “It’s an overwhelming diversion from the point you’re trying to make.” Biden said that in the briefing he and Obama received from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and others, there were “no conclusions drawn” from the uncorroborated dossier, which was produced in August and then released publicly this week by the media. Biden said it was “totally ancillary” to the purpose of the meeting, which was to brief Obama on a report he ordered documenting Russian interference in the U.S. campaign. “As a matter of fact, the president was like, ‘What does this have anything to do with anything?’” Biden said. He said intelligence leaders responded by saying “Well, we feel obliged to tell you, Mr. President, because you may hear about it. We’re going to tell him,” referring to Trump. Biden said intelligence leaders told him and Obama that they couldn’t say whether or not the allegations were true or untrue. He said there was “hardly any discussion” about the allegations in the briefing. “Neither the president nor I asked for any detail,” Biden said. But he added of the dossier: “I’ve read everything.” Trump has vehemently denied the allegations included in a dossier about close coordination between Trump’s inner circle and Russians. The dossier also included unsubstantiated claims about unusual sexual activities by Trump, attributed to anonymous sources. The Associated Press has not authenticated the claims. Trump has denied them. The FBI has been working to corroborate the details in the dossier, although it’s unclear how long that investigation has been running or how many resources are assigned. FBI Director James Comey has declined even to acknowledge the investigation publicly in line with FBI protocol. The dossier was compiled by a former Western intelligence operative and had been circulating among news organizations and intelligence agencies in Washington for months. Its existence became known publicly following reports the intelligence community had briefed Trump on the dossier. In the interview, Biden criticized Trump’s rocky relationship with intelligence officials. The president-elect has publicly challenged their assessment about Russia’s role in the election and suggested they have skewed evidence. Trump has received the President’s Daily Brief, the highest-level intelligence document produced in the United States, a few times but has insisted he doesn’t need it daily and suggested he knows more than intelligence leaders. Biden said it would be a “genuine tragedy” if Trump refused the daily intelligence briefing presidents traditionally receive. To illustrate his point, Biden took out the black tablet computer he uses to read his daily briefing and showed it to reporters as he sat next to a crackling fireplace in his office, just steps from the Oval Office. He said it is password-protected and includes a feature he uses to ask questions about the intelligence that are responded to the same day. Biden said at least five foreign leaders have already contacted him expressing concern over Trump’s second-guessing of U.S. intelligence agencies. “It is really very damaging in my view to our standing in the world for a president to take one of the crown jewels of our national defense and denigrate it,” Biden said. “It plays into, particularly now, the Russian narrative that America doesn’t know what it’s doing.” After nearly half a century in public office, Biden will exit the national stage next Friday, although he plans to stay active in Democratic politics and work on policy issues at a pair of institutes he’s developing at the University of Delaware and the University of Pennsylvania. He also plans to continue with the cancer “moonshot” effort he launched after his son died. Biden was full of praise for his successor, Vice President-elect Mike Pence. He said he’s been sending Pence memos with his advice on how to handle certain relationships, such as with Iraqi and Ukrainian leaders, and on “the things that could explode most easily.” He said Pence had been receptive to his advice but had less time these days to speak to Biden due to the heavy role he’s playing in setting up Trump’s administration. Biden said he’s made his national security adviser, Colin Kahl, available to Pence but hoped Pence would quickly name a national security adviser of his own. “It would be better if they had been in a better position where he actually had somebody that Colin could sit down with every morning,” Biden said. Republish with permission of The Associated Press.
A traditional end to an unconventional presidential election
The end of the 2016 presidential election is at hand. A joint session of Congress is set to count the Electoral College votes on Friday, a traditional ending to a most unconventional presidential election. Friday’s vote count marks the last chance for Democrats and other anti-Trump forces to disrupt Donald Trump‘s election. But even if they are successful, the most Democrats could do is slow the process because they don’t have the votes to overturn the outcome. Barring something bizarre happening, Trump will be declared the winner and will be sworn in at his inauguration on Jan. 20. Vice President Joe Biden will preside over the vote count in his role as president of the Senate. All 538 electors met in their respective state capitals in December to cast their votes. Trump finished with 304 votes and Democrat Hillary Clinton with 227, according to a tally by The Associated Press. It takes 270 Electoral College votes to win the presidency. Trump won even though Clinton received nearly 2.9 million more votes. His election has generated much angst among Democrats and others who oppose the billionaire businessman. But they have been powerless to change the outcome. Despite rumblings of a revolt, only two Republican electors — both from Texas — cast protest votes for someone other than Trump. Clinton lost four Democratic electors in Washington state and one in Hawaii. The secretary of state’s office in Washington said the four “faithless” electors would be fined $1,000 apiece. During Friday’s session, Democrats will have an opportunity to file objections, questioning the validity of the vote count. Under federal law, if at least one senator and one House member object to the vote from any state, the House and Senate would meet separately to debate the merits of the objection. Several House Democrats have talked about filing an objection, but no senator has publicly backed the idea. Regardless, with Republicans controlling both chambers, any objection would have little chance of affecting the outcome. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., considered objecting but said, “This is not about trying to stop Donald Trump from becoming president.” Perlmutter said he wants to register his objection to Russia after U.S. intelligence community findings that Moscow engaged in computer hacking to sway the election in favor of Trump. America’s top intelligence official told Congress on Thursday that Russia undoubtedly interfered in the 2016 presidential election. “We cannot allow a foreign nation to ever influence our elections because it harms our liberty, freedom and independence,” Perlmutter said in a statement. “This is bigger than just one election, and for the sake of our democracy, we must remain vigilant.” Trump has not fully embraced the findings of the intelligence community. In fact, he has repeatedly mocked America’s intelligence officials. This week, Trump went on Twitter to question why an intelligence briefing he is to receive was delayed. However, intelligence officials said there had been no delay. Still, Trump wrote: “The ‘Intelligence’ briefing on so-called ‘Russian hacking’ was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!” Republish with permission of The Associated Press.
Joe Biden not planning on 2020 bid but will ‘never say never’
Vice President Joe Biden is continuing his coy approach to a possible 2020 presidential bid. For now, it’s no. The Democrat told Stephen Colbert on CBS’ “Late Show” Tuesday, “I don’t plan on running again, but to say you know what’s going to happen in four years is just not rational.” He added, “I can’t see the circumstance in which I’d run, but what I’ve learned a long, long time ago, Stephen, is to never say never.” The comments came a day after Biden said, with a slight smile to a reporter, “I’m going to run in 2020.” Biden told Colbert his decision not to run in 2016 was right for his family, even though he was “best prepared at this moment to lead the country.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Joe Biden ‘not interested’ in running for Democratic Party chair
Vice President Joe Biden closed the door Tuesday on the possibility of leading the Democratic Party after leaving the White House next year. Biden’s name has been floated in recent days among Democratic insiders looking for someone with the stature and position to lead the party out its electoral abyss. Democrats urging him this year to run for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship had said his appeal to white, working-class voters might help the party refocus after losing badly among those voters to President-elect Donald Trump. “The vice president is not interested in being DNC chair, but he intends to remain deeply involved in helping shape the direction of the Democratic Party moving forward,” his spokeswoman, Kate Bedingfield, said. Largely leaderless other than outgoing President Barack Obama, the Democratic Party early next year will choose a new national chairman following devastating losses in the 2016 elections. Longtime Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepped down under pressure during the Democratic National Committee. Since then, interim Chairwoman Donna Brazile has led the party, also under pressure after stolen emails showed she’d communicated with Hillary Clinton‘s aides about potential questions to be asked in campaign forums. “Joe Biden is the one person who I think could bring the party together, the progressive wing of the party, the left and center, and start giving a cogent message to those working-class Democrats who abandoned us,” former DNC Chairman Ed Rendell told CNBC earlier Tuesday. Bowing out of the DNC race means Biden will likely cease to have a formal role in the party come January after serving more than four decades in elected office. He’s expected to remain a public voice and has discussed with universities the possibility of setting up a policy center or institute. He’s also said he’ll continue to work on the “moonshot” he launched after his son died to accelerate cancer research. Biden faced even louder calls last year to run for president, but ultimately declined. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
