His decision is a major boost for the Clinton campaign, as Mr Biden’s supporters are now likely to turn to Mrs Clinton as their candidate.
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“While I am not going to be a candidate, I won’t be silent”, said Biden. “I have concluded it has closed”, he said.
Biden’s months of deliberation had coincided with intense mourning for his late son Beau, who succumbed to brain cancer in May, and significant Democratic disillusionment with Clinton.
While many voters deem Clinton as untrustworthy, her decent performance at the first Democratic debate appears to have been enough to assuage the concerns of large donors and party operatives who had begun to doubt Clinton.
“And it is true that when Republican candidates are putting forward would undo a lot of the progress that President Obama and Vice President Biden made”, suggested Palmieri.
In a statement, Mrs Clinton called Mr Biden “a good man and a great vice-president” and said she was confident that he would continue to be “on the front lines, always fighting for all of us”.
Biden was considered Clinton’s most serious competition, despite rival Bernie Sanders’ popularity in the polls.
Nevertheless Biden’s decision will come as a relief to the Clinton campaign as she seeks to stabilise her White House push after months on the defensive over the use of a private e-mail server for official work as secretary of state. He added that it is a solid foundation that should be protected and defended by the Democrats.
“I really thought up until this weekend that he was running”, said longtime Biden strategist Larry Rasky. “I enjoyed his speech tremendously – it did remind us all of why we had supported him”. He said, “They are our opposition; they’re not our enemies”.
“I believe that we have to end the divisive partisan politics that is ripping this country apart, and I believe that we can”, Biden said.
WHEN Jim Webb announced his withdrawal from the Democratic presidential race earlier this week, few were surprised.
All the while, Biden had maintained a base of support.
“When you see the next round of polls, you’ll see her with an even bigger lead”.
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Biden has run for president twice before; in 1987 when he withdrew from the race in a plagiarism scandal, and in 2008, when Obama picked him as his running mate.
