Vice President Joe Biden announced today he is not running for President. 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.
VP Joe Biden and President Barack Obama. Photo courtesy of whitehouse.gov
“Natural constituency for Biden would have been Missouri Democrats because he could do his folksy, blue collar, get out the union vote kind of approach to politics that he used a lot in Deleware,” said Calfano. “You’re going to see a lot of Republicans, but just not a lot of Democrats. If the Biden decision means anything, I think it means that Democratic nomination struggles are basically going to go away. You’re not going to see much of that play out in Missouri at all.”
Calfano said Hillary Clinton’s campaign is probably breathing a sigh of relief because Biden was a threat to her nomination prospects. Calfano thinks Biden could be a candidate for Secretary of State in a Hillary Clinton administration.
Calfano said the focus has switched to Republican Presidential candidates now.
“They’re the ones who are going to come up with figuring out how to deal with the top two guys right now in the polls who really don’t have any political experience than all the other politicians in the mix,” said Calfano. I think that’s really where the show is, particularly for Missouri.”
Biden’s announcement ends months of speculation about whether he would run. Over the summer, while his family grieved over the death this year of his son, Beau, the vice president said that the window for a presidential run might close before a decision would be made.
