Biden： Running for the presidency three times in half a century.
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Xinhua News Agency, Washington, August 18thBiden: Running for the presidency three times in half a century.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Deng Xianlai Xu Jianmei Sun Ding
I struggled with stuttering as a child, and later lost my wife and children due to car accidents and illness. I have been in politics for nearly 50 years and ran for the US president three times …
On the 18th, former US Vice President Joe Biden, who will turn 78, was formally nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 at the Democratic National Congress. In the first two challenges, he stopped at intra-party competition; This time, can deus ex win?
This live video shot on August 18th shows Joe Biden celebrating after being nominated as the US Democratic presidential candidate in 2020. Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie photo
Veteran politicians are ill-fated
Biden was born into a middle-class family in Pennsylvania in November 1942. When he was a teenager, he moved to Delaware with his family. He studied at the University of Delaware and Syracuse University and obtained a law degree.
Biden once wrote in his autobiography that when he was a child, his elders often discussed international and domestic politics, and he couldn’t wait to participate, which laid the foundation for his political career. After graduating from Syracuse University in 1968, Biden worked as a lawyer and became active in Delaware politics as a democratic party member. In 1972, he was elected to the Delaware Senate, becoming one of the youngest senators in American history.
During his 36-year career as a federal senator, Biden served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee for a long time and twice as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He ran for president twice in 1988 and 2008, but neither was nominated by the party. In the 2008 general election, Biden withdrew from the intra-party competition and became the running mate of Obama, who was later elected president, and eventually became the vice president of the United States, and was re-elected four years later. Long-term political experience has enabled Biden not only to establish a deep foundation and extensive contacts, but also to accumulate enough experience in internal affairs and diplomacy.
Biden had many setbacks in his life. When he was a child, he was laughed at by his classmates for stuttering, and finally he overcame the language barrier by reciting long poems in front of the mirror. A few weeks after he was elected to the Senate for the first time, his wife and youngest daughter were killed in a car accident and their two sons were seriously injured. He finally decided to take office in the Senate after being persuaded by colleagues and friends. In 2015, his son bo Biden died of brain cancer, and he suffered a heavy blow again. Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris was Bo’s close friend, and this relationship was one of the reasons why he finally chose Harris.
The policy "turns left" and its implementation is doubtful.
The National Congress of the Democratic Party adopted a new party program on 18th, covering COVID-19 epidemic, economy, medical insurance, race, diplomacy and other fields, which was generally "moderate" and absorbed some ideas of "progressives" within the Party. This reflects Biden’s policy objectives.
The epidemic situation in COVID-19 and ethnic issues are important issues in this year’s general election. In response to the epidemic situation in COVID-19, the new party platform proposed to expand the scope of testing, strengthen contact tracking, and provide free testing, treatment and vaccines. Biden, who usually wears masks during the epidemic, also called for a national mandatory mask-wearing order. On the issue of race, Biden promised to solve the problem of "systematic racism" in American society within 100 days after taking office. He also took solving ethnic problems as part of his economic recovery plan, and promised to increase capital investment in education, employment, income, housing, supporting small businesses and other fields to ensure equal opportunities for ethnic minorities.
However, some American media have pointed out that Biden has refused the Democratic Party to turn left for decades, but now he has absorbed the "progressive" proposition for the sake of "unity". The current policy must be bolder than that when he was a senator and vice president. "This is a contradiction in itself." There may be a gap between his campaign promise and actual implementation.
The polls are ahead, but there are shortcomings.
Since the presidential nomination was locked in April, Biden’s poll support rate in the national and key swing States has been ahead of President Trump seeking re-election. According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in the United States in June, compared with Trump, voters think Biden is more peaceful, more honest, more concerned about the needs of ordinary people and a better role model. On policy issues, Biden is less recognized than Trump in economic policy, and is more optimistic in justice, foreign policy, epidemic response, ethnic issues, national unity and so on.
However, it is worth noting that the poll conducted by the Pew Research Center from July to August showed that more than half of Biden supporters expressed their support for Biden because they opposed Trump, which was much higher than other options such as leadership, personality and policy stance.
Despite the lead in the polls, Biden is not without shortcomings. The first is the age issue. If Biden wins, he will become the oldest president of the United States when he was first elected. Polls show that about one-third of Biden’s supporters are worried about his old age and health.
Secondly, Biden’s current policy stance shows more signs of "turning left" than that in the pre-selection stage. The Trump campaign team is taking advantage of this in the near future and spares no effort to portray him as a "tool of radical left wing".
Thirdly, although Biden plays the "Unity Card", his ability to mobilize the enthusiasm of voters still lags behind Trump. However, affected by the epidemic, it is difficult for Biden to hold large-scale rallies and campaign activities. The current ratings of this year’s Democratic National Congress, which is mainly presented in the form of online live broadcast, are not as good as four years ago, which may make it more difficult to make up for this shortcoming.
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