Joe Biden to Challenge Hillary?

by Stephen Lendman

The New York Times reports Biden is “actively explor(ing) a possible presidential campaign” - according to sources close to the vice president or his advisors.

They’ve “grown concerned about (Hillary’s) increasingly visible vulnerabilities as a candidate.” Times columnist Maureen Dowd said Biden is holding meetings at home, “talking to friends, family and donors about jumping in” to challenge her in Iowa and New Hampshire - the first two primary states.

She has lots of troubling baggage. A July 30 Quinnipiac poll showed 57% of voters don’t trust her for good reason. Over half said she doesn’t care about their interests.

In contrast, Biden registered a 49% favorability rating - his highest in seven years, said The Times. He scored 58% in trustworthiness, and 57% of respondents believe he cares about people needs.

The Times cited unnamed “confidants” saying they expect he’ll decide in September whether or not to run. He hasn’t said he won’t.

Two previous tries failed. Friends say becoming president “is his ultimate dream,” said The Times.

In 1988, his campaign ended after reports of exaggerating his poor academic record and plagiarizing a law review article while at Syracuse University College of Law, as well as using content of others’ speeches for his own without attribution.

In 2008, he dropped his presidential bid after getting less than 1% support in Iowa caucuses. Obama chose him as his running mate - again in 2012.

The Times said Biden’s relationship with Hillary Clinton is “cordial and warm. But (he) clashed with (Bill during his tenure), and his (dealings) with Mrs. Clinton ha(ve) not been without awkwardness.”

The Times cited an unnamed Democrat party donor “with direct knowledge” of possible Biden plans saying he’d “position himself in the race, delivering an economic message to the left of Mrs. Clinton’s while embracing Obama administration policies.”

He’s a former Delaware senator (1973 - 2009) - part of the same deeply corrupted, money-controlled system ruling America from inception.

He’s no populist. Dirty business as usual would continue on his watch. The same way all other Democrat and Republican aspirants would govern - including endless wars, confronting Russia recklessly, supporting many of the world’s most ruthless despots, serving monied interests over popular ones, unflinching support for Israel’s worst crimes, and cracking down hard on resistance for equity and justice.

Biden backed Bush wars on Afghanistan and Iraq - Obama’s on Libya, Syria, Donbass and Yemen. He voted for the Patriot Act, renewing it and other police state laws.

He backed legislation making it harder for ordinary people to declare bankruptcy - to keep credit card companies and other corporate interests from getting stuck with unrepayable debt.

He’s a vocal war on drugs supporter - a de facto war on Black and Brown people, imprisoning them en masse for what responsible societies at most would consider an insignificant misdemeanor never warranting incarceration.

He’s a get-tough-on-crime advocate overall - on the streets, not corporate suites where it matters most.

Perhaps he’s well suited for the nation’s top job - intellectually lacking, unimpressive during his Senate years, and notorious for gaffs.

One observer said his “mouth out-runs his brain” at times. Critics accuse him of foot-in-mouth disease. His rhetoric outruns his sensibility. He’s a reliable spear-carrier for US imperial interests. He’s notoriously anti-populist.

His purported folksiness conceals his indifference to human needs and rights. A Biden presidency would assure the same dead end for ordinary Americans as all other Republican and Democrat 2016 candidates - not a people’s aspirant in the bunch.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.