Joe Biden enters 2020 presidential race: 'This is a battle for the soul of the nation'

Veteran politician starts as favourite but nothing is certain

Former vice president Joe Biden has finally entered the battle for the White House, claiming the 2020 race would be nothing less than “a battle for the soul of this nation”.

In one of the most highly anticipated, but widely expected, steps of the election cycle, the Democrat from Delaware declared his intention to launch his third presidential bid.

If he succeeds in securing the party’s nomination, it would mean the 2020 contest to lead the large and diverse country is a showdown between two white men in their 70s.

In a video, accompanied by stirring score featuring strings and a piano, Mr Biden pointed to the deadly, far-right violence that erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the summer of 2017 as an example at what was at stake.

“I believe history will look back on four years of this president and all he embraces as an aberrant moment in time,” he said. “But if we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and I cannot stand by and let that happen.”

Mr Trump, who had said that both sides were to blame for the Charlottesville violence, was quick to respond, revealing what may become his nickname of choice for Mr Biden, should he end up facing him.

“Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe. I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign,” the president tweeted.

“It will be nasty – you will be dealing with people who truly have some very sick and demented ideas. But if you make it, I will see you at the starting gate.”

Even before he officially entered, Mr Biden led among a large pool of declared and Democratic candidates, well ahead of Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Beto O’Rourke. As someone positioned to centre left of the Democratic field, though not a solid progressive, it is likely he could take support from many of his rivals.

Along with his name recognition, Mr Biden will expect to earn the votes of some African American voters, especially older ones, who admired the way he served Barack Obama as a loyal vice president.

Asked whether he had received or sought the endorsement of the man with whom for eight years he ate lunch every week, he said he had asked him not to publicly back him. “Whoever wins this nomination should win it on their own merits,” said Mr Biden, who has labelled himself an Obama-Biden Democrat.

As it was, Mr Obama – who reportedly persuaded Mr Biden not to run in 2016 as he felt Hillary Clinton would be a better successor – let it be known on Thursday through a spokesman he had always valued Mr Biden’s knowledge, insight, and judgment throughout both campaigns and the entire presidency.

Mr Biden may start at the top of the polls of Democratic voters, but winning the party’s nomination is far from a given. Many will question whether, at the age of 76, he has left it too late to make another presidential bid.

After a career in politics spanning more than four decades, Mr Biden also has lots of baggage that will be scrutnised. Among this will be his associations with big businesses and corporations that have previously backed his campaigns, his championing of a 1994 crime bill that disproportionately impacted communities of colour, and his 1991 questioning of Anita Hill during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Many have accused him of misogyny and racism over the episode. On Thursday, the New York Times reported Mr Biden had called Ms Hill to apologise. She had not been quick to forgive him.

“I cannot be satisfied by simply saying I’m sorry for what happened to you. I will be satisfied when I know there is real change and real accountability and real purpose,” she told the newspaper.

More recently, a number of women have come forward to highlight instances of so-called inappropriate touching by Mr Biden, something he apologised for and for which he is referred to by some as “Creepy Joe”.

Many in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, fresh from a victory in the 2018 midterms that saw greater number of women and people of colour elected to congress than ever before, believe Mr Biden’s candidacy would not represent the future.

“Joe Biden is going to regret this decision,” Matt Gorman, a former official at the National Republican Congressional Committee, an arm of the Republican Party, told Reuters. “His candidacy will not only rehash his very long record in public life, but allow his opponents to subtly argue he is too old and too moderate to be the Democratic standard-bearer.”

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which backs senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, said Mr Biden’s centrist record could be a hindrance.

Adam Green, the group’s co-founder, said: “If Joe Biden positions himself as the political insider from yesteryear who says big ideas like universal childcare, student debt relief and a wealth tax on ultra-millionaires are not possible, he would be an easy foil.”