Washington : Ending weeks of speculation, US Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that he will not run for the 2016 presidential election, clearing the decks for Hillary Clinton to get the Democratic Party’s nomination to run for president. The surprise announcement by Biden at the Rose Garden of the White House with President Barack Obama standing by his side, paves the way for Clinton as the Democratic frontrunner.
“I will not be the candidate. I believe we’re out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination. But while I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent,” Biden said. “I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully, to influence as much as I can where we stand as a party and where we need to go as a nation. And this is what I believe,” he asserted.
Biden was flanked by Obama on his right and wife Jill on his left. He said he believes that Obama had led the nation from crisis to recovery. “We’re now on the cusp of resurgence. I’m proud to have played a part in that. This party, our nation, will be making a tragic mistake if we walk away or attempt to undo the Obama legacy,” he said.
“The American people have worked too hard, and we have come too far for that. Democrats should not only defend this record and protect this record. They should run on the record,” said the vice president reading from a teleprompter. In a statement Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz appreciated that Biden gave thoughtful consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2016.
