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Obama pushes Biden into presidential race

Posted August. 05, 2015 07:22,   

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U.S. President Barack Obama is encouraging Vice President Joe Biden to run for presidency.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in an interview with NBC on Monday, "If he chooses to run, he’ll have a strong case to make." In another interview with Fox News, Earnest acknowledged that Biden has "indicated that he`s thinking about it." The spokesman added, "The president certainly believes that a spirited contest would be in the best interests of our party, and in the best interest of our country."

White House is promoting Biden`s possible presidential bid to the extent of mentioning Obama`s name because voters are not showing great interest in the Democratic Party`s primary contest dominated by Hillary Clinton, whose popularity has been declining lately. The dominant view in Washington`s political circles is that the Democratic Party has a sense of crisis over the possibility that it will lose in the presidential election just with the Hillary Clinton card, as Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, is leading the party`s race in the early stages. According to the result of an NBC-Wall Street Journal opinion poll announced Monday, just 37 percent of all Americans have a positive view of Clinton, down from 44 percent a month earlier. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who has been hit by Trump`s high popularity, also saw his positive rating fall to 26 percent positive from 27 percent.

A source in Washington said, "For President Obama, a Democrat has to win the presidential election, be it Clinton or Biden, so that his major accomplishments including Obamacare can be maintained." According the result of a Fox New poll on Monday, Clinton was supported by 51 percent of Democratic Party-leaning voters, trailed by Bernie Sanders, an independent but Democratic Party-inclined Senator, with 22 percent and Biden with 13 percent.

Trump did not participate in a GOP debate on Monday in Manchester, New Hampshire, sponsored by the local media, including the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper, in order to focus on preparing for a Fox News-sponsored forum scheduled for Thursday. Local media reported that the New Hampshire debate fell flat because of Trump`s absence.



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