Irish Examiner view: Biden will have backing of the Irish
President Joe Biden announced yesterday that he will be running for the White House in the next US election. Picture: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
It would be stretching the bounds of credibility to suggest that US president Joe Biden was so energised by his reception in Ireland earlier this month that he felt ready to announce a bid for re-election.
His declaration yesterday that he intends to seek a second term in the White House is the kind of announcement that is planned by strategists for months, though it could hardly have hurt that images of a beaming Biden, basking in the welcome offered by enthusiastic Irish crowds, were fresh in the mind.
By putting his name in the ring, Biden invites the closest scrutiny once again, and the first question will centre on his age, unsurprisingly.
He first sought the Democratic nomination for president back in 1988 and, if successful this time around, he would be 86 at the conclusion of his second term, the oldest US president ever. His age is a concern among a sizeable number of Democrats, his own party colleagues; not all of them are keen on Biden running for a second term.
However, he has one major advantage: He has beaten Donald Trump in a presidential election and clearly believes he can do so again. Whether Trump can even secure the Republican nomination is unclear given his legal travails.
These show no sign of abating, and in the shape of potential electoral fraud charges in Georgia, have the potential to keep Trump out of a run for re-election.
Irish eyes will be on Biden as a preferred candidate, surely, and not just because of the petulance of the British reaction to Biden’s enthusiasm for his Irish roots.
That reaction was entertaining, but ultimately inconsequential, whereas the president’s strong support for the Good Friday Agreement and offer of economic support for Northern Ireland were solid commitments to improvements in the future.
