The native Scrantonian has finally made a decision.
Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden will kick off his long-anticipated campaign for president on Wednesday, according to a report from The Atlantic, which cited unnamed individuals familiar with Biden’s plans.
The campaign launch will involve an announcement video with footage made earlier this month outside Biden’s childhood home in Scranton, The Atlantic reported.
As for a formal kickoff event, that location remains unclear. Among the sites reportedly in consideration are Charlottesville, Va., the site of a neo-Nazi march that prompted President Donald Trump’s “both sides” comment — and the iconic steps outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in a city where Biden has considered headquartering his campaign.
A Biden spokesman declined to comment when contacted Friday by The Morning Call.
In embarking on his third presidential run, Biden would join a field of contenders that already tallies 20 Democrats. But he’d enter at the front of that pack, with national polls giving him a lead despite not yet announcing a bid for the White House.
He also polled well in Pennsylvania, with a Morning Call/Muhlenberg College survey conducted this month giving him a 12-point lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Biden, who represented neighboring Delaware in the U.S. Senate for more than three decades, drew the strongest numbers among five Democratic presidential hopefuls in terms of voter excitement and comfort, with half of respondents said they would be comfortable voting for him, and 19 percent said they would be excited to do so.
“He is the candidate that appeals the most to blue-collar Democrats,” said former Gov. Ed Rendell, when asked in an interview earlier this year which of the likely contenders would be a good fit for winning Pennsylvania, a critical swing state.
That Morning Call/Muhlenberg poll showed Biden doing well among conservative and moderate Democrats in Pennsylvania, and struggling only among the party’s most liberal voters.
At 76 years old, Biden would be the second-oldest Democrat in the race, following 77-year-old Sanders, and the contender with the most political and government experience. That trait could cut both ways at a time some in the party want a younger standard-bearer or one reflecting more of the party’s diversity.
His lengthy public record also poses potential challenges for Biden. Amid the #MeToo movement, he’s drawn criticism for his role presiding over the 1991 hearing in which Anita Hill faced aggressive questioning in testifying that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her.
Biden has said he regretted that hearing, but drew additional blowback for saying he wished he “could have done something.”
He also struggled to respond to claims from several women about inappropriate behavior, including unwanted touching. (None of the women has alleged sexual misconduct.)
But the man previously known as Pennsylvania’s third senator has some prominent state Democrats ready to help him ramp up a campaign and move past any potential obstacles.
Rendell, former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, and Comcast’s David L. Cohen are planning a fundraiser for Biden within days of his announcement, according to WHYY-FM, citing an email sent this week to potential campaign contributors.
Washington correspondent Laura Olson can be reached at 202-780-9540 or lolson@mcall.com.
