Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Monday 12 august 2019
Biden is still the Democrat to beat, but rivals see weakness

Associated Press like the one in Iowa this polls may look different." busing to combat segre- Biden advisers to encour-
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — In week, eventually will catch Biden's standing in the race gated schools. Now advis- age the former vice presi-
a barn down a gravel road up to him, undermining his is the subject of much de- ers view that moment as a dent to step up his cam-
in Iowa, Joe Biden tore into electability argument. bate within the Democrat- much needed jolt for the paign activities, including
President Donald Trump's "He has been durable," said ic Party. Advisers to other candidate, making clear to more question-and-answer
moral character, declar- David Axelrod, a longtime campaigns contend that Biden that he would need sessions with voters and re-
ing in one of the fiercest political strategist for Presi- polling at this stage of the to draw sharper distinctions porters, an approach that
speeches of his campaign dent Barack Obama. "The race is often fluid, reflect- with his Democratic rivals has been on display during
that the words of the Amer- question is whether that du- ing little more than name during the primary and not his four-day Iowa swing. But
ican president matter. rability is because we aren't recognition. Biden aides just focus his fire on Trump. that comes with risk for a
The next day, Biden's own fully geared into the race frequently note that Trump Since then, Biden has freewheeling politician with
words tripped him up. He or whether there are inher- led polls throughout the drawn contrasts with more a history of verbal fumbles.
told an audience in Des ent strengths there." summer of 2015 and never liberal Democrats, like War- At the start of the week,
Moines that poor children Biden's team has been relinquished the top spot. ren and Sanders, over their Biden got the locations of
are "just as bright and just heartened by the consis- What is clear is that some proposals to do away with two back-to-back mass
as talented as white kids," tency of his early polling of Biden's rivals see an im- private health insurance shootings wrong. And on
before immediately clarify- numbers, despite the push perative to begin taking and replace it with a gov- Thursday night, he told vot-
ing his remarks. from fellow candidates to him on aggressively. Sand- ernment-run system. He's ers in Des Moines that poor
The back-to-back episodes cast the 76-year-old as out ers has walloped Biden re- also vigorously defended kids were as bright and tal-
magnified the promise and of step with the Democrat- peatedly over health care, Obama, the most popu- ented as white children. He
the peril of Biden's can- ic Party on women's health comparing the former vice lar Democrat in the na- caught the flub and quickly
didacy. Three months af- issues and race. Nearly president's opposition to a tion who nevertheless has added: "wealthy kids, black
ter announcing his White every survey, both nation- "Medicare for All" system faced criticism from liberals kids, Asian kids."
House bid, he remains atop ally and in the early primary to Trump. Harris, as well as who believe he didn't go Defending himself on Satur-
early polling for Democrat- states, shows him leading New Jersey Sen. Cory Book- far enough on health care day, he told a reporter that
ic candidates, buoyed by the crowded primary field, er, has hammered Biden and was too aggressive in he "misspoke" and said, "I
a long history with voters with Sens. Elizabeth Warren, over comments he made deporting immigrants living don't think anybody thinks
and a belief among many Bernie Sanders and Kama- about working with segre- illegally in the United States. that I meant something
of them that his decades la Harris following behind gationists during his early "(Biden's) done a better job other than what I said I
of experience best position but so far unable to find a years in the Senate. since then trying to hug up meant."
him to defeat Trump. Those way to surpass him. Biden initially appeared to Obama as much as pos- But during the same ex-
attributes appear to have "It's because people know caught off guard by the sible," said Jim Hodges, the change with reporters, he
helped the former vice him. And they don't know ferocity of the attacks on former Democratic gover- said he "watched what
president withstand weeks just his name," said Jack his 40-plus-year record in nor of South Carolina, who happened when those kids
of attacks on his lengthy re- Markell, the former Dela- politics, particularly Harris' is yet to endorse a candi- from Parkland came up to
cord in politics. ware governor and a Biden blistering critique in the first date. "That's his strength see me when I was vice
But Biden's rivals remain supporter. "If it were just debate of his past opposi- here." president." The shooting
confident that his fumbles, name recognition, these tion to federally mandated Indeed, Biden's campaign at the Florida high school
is eager to focus more on happened in 2018, a year
his eight years as vice presi- after Biden left office.
dent than the decades The former vice president's
that preceded his time in ultimate success in the
the White House. Advisers race will depend in part on
believe his years serving whether voters' warm feel-
as No. 2 to the nation's first ings toward him will help
black president resonate excuse his frequent mis-
particularly well with Afri- steps or see them as a sign
can American voters, one that the candidate — who
of the most powerful seg- would be the oldest presi-
ments of the Democratic dent ever elected — has
electorate. Biden also lost a step.
evolved into a beloved "He's always been prone to
elder statesman for many gaffes. That was true when
Democrats during those he was in his 40s, 50s and
years, particularly after the 60s," Axelrod said. "The dif-
2015 death of his son Beau, ference is because people
who succumbed to brain are looking for signs of po-
cancer at age 46. tential deterioration, gaffes
"It just hurts me to see what that would be written off
some people are saying as Joe being Joe can be-
about him," said Linda Rob- come much more damag-
inson, a retired health care ing to him."
worker who heard Biden During his Iowa trip, Biden
speak in Boone, Iowa. Rob- has projected the confi-
inson, who caucused for dence of a front-runner,
Biden in 2008 but hasn't de- rarely mentioning his pri-
cided who has her support mary opponents and even
this year, called the former sitting in the front row at a
vice president a "decent state party dinner Friday
man." night, applauding as his
The attacks from Harris and rivals spoke ahead of his
others have also prompted concluding spot. q