Election 2004
Democratic Party
Sen. Joe Biden
Delaware
[No birth time known. Chart set for 12 Noon. He grew up in New Castle County, Delaware. The New Castle city designation is speculative.]
For most of 2002, former US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden -- currently the committee's top Democrat -- was seriously looking at making a second run for President in 2004. The September 2001 terrorist attack on America helped quickly raise his national profile -- as Biden now regularly appears on the TV news shows as a leading voice on foreign policy matters. His first bid -- a disasterous run in 1988 -- ended before the first primary under the weight of allegations that he plagiarized some material in his campaign speeches (including biographical segments) from other politicians. First elected to the Senate in 1972 as a challenger at the age of 29, Biden matured and became a respected Senate leader. Biden has built a fairly centrist voting record in the Senate -- and has won his re-election races by wide margins. He has also been a strong advocate in Washington on behalf of credit card giant MBNA, which is based in his home state -- taking positions are often to the detriment of consumers. "Assuming I'm re-elected [in 2002], I'll take a look at it then," said Biden in 2002. Biden won re-election by a comfortable margin -- but his Presidential desires seemed to cool off afterwards as the US's posture towards Iraq heated up. In January 2003, Biden said he was more interested in focusing on his duties on the Foreign Relations Committee even if it means he would be too late to develop an effective campaign. However, according to an interview he gave to his homestate's leading newspaper in May 2003, Biden is still pondering a late entry into the race -- but "will wait until at least September" to make any decision. "If I do this, I'm not going to do this on anybody's terms but my own this time ... My reason for not doing it now is: I don't know how you can go out and do all the things you need to do to run for President and still try to shape -- or in some cases impede -- the President's agenda. Here we are talking [in Congress] about low-yield nuclear weapons and John Edwards, John Kerry, Bob Graham and Dick Gephardt are all somewhere else. They're not in the debate. I'm not ready to do that," explained Biden. ...
Biden Bio Notes courtesy of politics1.com
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