Trump, Biden to battle for White House
Bernie makes matchup official by bowing out
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Joe Biden will represent the Democratic Party against President Trump this fall, the former vice president’s place on the general election ballot cemented Wednesday by Bernie Sanders’ decision to end his campaign.
Biden likely won’t secure the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination until June. But without any Democratic rivals left, a general election campaign that will almost certainly be the most expensive and among the nastiest in U.S. history is underway.
“It won’t be easy. Nobody’s confused about that. But we are ready for the general election. We are ready for our standard-bearer,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said. “I’m confident because Joe Biden’s values reflect the values of the majority of the American people that we can win.”
In Biden and Trump, voters will choose between two white septuagenarians with dramatically different prescriptions for health care, climate change, foreign policy and leadership in an era of extreme partisanship.
At 77, Biden becomes the oldest major party presidential nominee in modern history. He’s spent most of his life as an elected official in Washington.
In Trump, Biden is up against a younger incumbent with a massive cash advantage, the daily attention of the nation, and rising popularity numbers.
Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said Biden will be portrayed as too liberal for most Americans, weighed down by questions of corruption and his son’s dealings in Ukraine and China, on top of concerns about his questionable mental acuity, with now routine gaffes at an advanced age.”
Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, predicted Trump would “destroy” Biden, who the president calls “Sleepy Joe.”
“President Trump is still disrupting Washington, D.C., while Biden represents the old, tired way and continuing to coddle the communist regime in China,” Parscale said.
Trump’s team also believes he can win over disaffected Sanders supporters who see Biden as a consummate insider, favored by a
Democratic Party that again shoved Sanders aside.
The Republican National Committee has already assembled an extensive research book on Biden. The GOP has devoted 10 researchers to Biden and sent hundreds of Biden-related freedom of information and public records requests to gather additional damaging material.