Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden tried to rally supporters in Houston ahead of Super Tuesday by telling them that a moment of choosing for Democrats has now arrived.
“The moment to choose a path forward has arrived for our party - maybe sooner than when people anticipated,” Mr. Biden said at an event at Texas Southern University, a historically black university.
Mr. Biden spoke amid reports that one-time 2020 rivals, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, are set to endorse him later in the day. Mr. Buttigieg officially ended his White House bid on Sunday, and Ms. Klobuchar was expected to do so on Monday.
“The decision Democrats make tomorrow and the next few weeks is going to determine what we stand for, what we believe, and where we’re going to go and how we’ll get there,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Biden said that pundits were declaring his campaign dead just a few days ago.
“But then along came South Carolina…South Carolina had something to say about it,” he said. “As I stand here today because of the minority communities, I am very much alive because of you.”
“If the Democrats want a nominee who’s a Democrat - a lifelong Democrat, a proud Democrat, an Obama-Biden Democrat - join us,” Mr. Biden said. “Look, we can win big or lose big - that’s the choice that’s upon us now. We need to build on a coalition, a legacy of the most successful president in any of our lifetimes - Barack Obama.”
The other major Democratic presidential contenders are not lifelong Democrats.
Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, Mr. Biden’s top rival, is an independent, though he caucuses with Senate Democrats.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is a former Republican, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.