U.S. voters split over Biden’s decision not to run for president

When Vice President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he would not seek the White House in 2016, he made what appeared to be a thinly veiled criticism of Hillary Clinton, chiding Democrats who view the opposing party as the “enemy”. While he said his family was emotionally prepared to undertake a grueling presidential campaign, they arrived at that decision too late for him to mount a credible bid for a job that has always been the north star of his political ambitions.

Vice President Biden’s decision not to run for the White House caught many reporters, staffers, and even once potential rival presidential candidates off guard. The 2008 primary contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is just one high-profile example.

Missouri State University Political Science Professor Brian Calfano thinks Biden’s decision means there won’t be much attention to Democratic Presidential politics in Missouri. He further said, “For the sake of the country, we have to work together”.

“During his announcement Wednesday, the vice president did not endorse a candidate on the Democratic side”.

With Clinton facing slipping poll numbers, Biden’s supporters had been pushing him to go for the nomination.

Mr Sanders also tweeted that he supported Mr Biden’s plans to make college free, fight economic inequality and close tax loopholes. He added that it is a solid foundation that should be protected and defended by the Democrats.

Bernie Sanders may be the most liberal candidate running for president, but he said today Republicans are not his “enemies”, in what seemed like a veiled jab at the Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton.

Turning to worldwide affairs, the vice president said the USA has learned much about “large-scale, open-ended military invasions”, and must accept that it can not solve the world’s problems alone. “I don’t think my chief enemy is the Republican party”, he said. She has been doing very well on the heels of the Democratic debate last week and she draws from the same well as Biden: older, Democratic establishment voters. A self-styled democratic socialist, Sanders has galvanized the party’s left wing but has yet to prove he can broaden his appeal.