Joe Biden formally clinches Democrat presidential nomination
Former US vice-president Joe Biden has formally clinched the Democratic presidential nomination.
Former US vice-president Joe Biden has formally clinched the Democrat presidential nomination, setting him up for a bruising challenge to Donald Trump that will play out against a backdrop of a pandemic, economic collapse and civil unrest.
“It was an honour to compete alongside one of the most talented groups of candidates the Democratic party has ever fielded and I am proud to say that we are going into this general election a united party,” Mr Biden said on Saturday (AEST).
Mr Biden has effectively been his party’s leader since his last challenger in the Democrat primary, Bernie Sanders, ended his campaign in April. But Mr Biden pulled together the 1991 delegates needed to become the nominee late on Friday after seven states and Washington DC, held presidential primaries on Tuesday.
Mr Biden reached the threshold three days after the primaries because several states, overwhelmed by huge increases in mail ballots, took days to tabulate results. A team of analysts at Associated Press parsed the votes into individual congressional districts. Democrats award most delegates to the party’s national convention based on results in individual congressional districts.
Mr Biden has 2000 delegates, with contests still to come in eight states and two US territories.
The moment was met with little of the traditional fanfare as the nation confronts overlapping crises. While Mr Biden started to venture out more last week, the coronavirus pandemic has largely confined him to his Wilmington, Delaware, home for much of the past three months.
The US faces the worst rate of unemployment since the Great Depression. And civil unrest that harkens back to the 1960s has erupted in dozens of cities following the death of George Floyd.
“This is a difficult time in America’s history,” Mr Biden said. “And Donald Trump’s angry, divisive politics is no answer. The country is crying out for leadership. Leadership that can unite us. Leadership that can bring us together.”
Mr Biden spent 36 years in the Senate before becoming Barack Obama’s vice-president. This is the 77-year-old’s third bid for the presidency and his success in capturing the nomination was driven by strong support from black voters.
He finished fourth place in the overwhelmingly white Iowa caucuses that kicked off the nomination process in February. Mr Biden fared little better in the New Hampshire primary, where his standing was so low that he left the state before polls closed on election night to instead rally black voters in South Carolina.
His rebound began in the more diverse caucuses in Nevada but solidified in South Carolina, where Mr Biden stomped Senator Sanders, his nearest rival, by nearly 29 points. He followed that with a dominant showing three days later during the Super Tuesday contests, taking 10 of the 14 states.
Mr Biden’s strong showing in states such as North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Texas reinforced his status as the preferred candidate of African-American voters — but the relationship has not been without its strained moments. After a tense exchange with a black radio host, Mr Biden took sharp criticism for suggesting that African-American voters still deciding between him and Trump “ain’t black”.
That comment, and protests that have spread nationwide, have increased pressure on Mr Biden to pick an African-American running mate. He has already committed to picking a woman as a vice-presidential candidate.
Black voters are unlikely to back Mr Trump over Mr Biden by a wide margin. A recent Fox News poll shows just 14 per cent of African-Americans who are registered to vote have a favourable opinion of the President compared with 75 per cent who favourably view Mr Biden. But Mr Biden must ensure that black voters are motivated to show up to the polls in November, especially in critical swing states that narrowly went for Mr Trump in 2016.
AP
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