Joe Biden tells The State he is the best 2020 candidate to help down ballot SC races
Former Vice President Joe Biden defended himself against questions of whether he was the best candidate to win in November, telling The State newspaper on Sunday that his 2020 presidential candidacy would be the best to help other Democrats running for office in South Carolina and elsewhere.
“You have to be able to be a helpful candidate and the top of the ticket matters as you all know in South Carolina,” Biden said. “I’m just asking the rhetorical question: Bernie’s the top of the ticket in North, in South Carolina or Warren’s the top of the ticket. How many Democrats down the line you think are gonna win?”
Biden made the comments about his rivals — U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — during an interview with The State in betweenBiden’s stops at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Columbia and an oyster roast and fish fry in Orangeburg County held by state solicitor Dave Pascoe.
Biden is among eight candidates in South Carolina for the 20th anniversary of the NAACP’s King Day at the Dome.
South Carolina is ground zero for one of the more competitive races for U.S. Congress.
U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, an arguably more moderate Democrat from the Charleston area, surprised political observers and voters in 2018 when he beat state Rep. Katie Arrington in the midterms after she stunned longtime politician, former U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is likely to face the most well-funded Democratic challenger the state has seen in a U.S. Senate race.
Democrat Jaime Harrison, the former state party chairman, has raised millions of dollars to compete with Graham, who brings to the race his own record-breaking campaign fundraising and close alliance with President Donald Trump.
“It’s just practical,” Biden said. “And so, the question is who is best equipped to help Democrats win in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania and several, Arizona, several other states. And if you look at the data in those states, I win in those states, and, or I’m competitive in those states.”
Biden continued: “So, I think the candidate has to be someone who is going to help the ticket down the line.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 8:29 AM.
