The Draft Biden Super PAC is out with an ad encouraging its favorite Vice President to run for the job himself, challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.
The emotional ad draws from Joe Biden’s loss of his first wife and a daughter in a car accident.
Six weeks after my election, my whole world was altered forever. While I was in Washington hiring staff, I got a phone call. My wife and three children were Christmas shopping, a tractor trailer broadsided them and killed my wife and killed my daughter. And they weren’t sure that my sons would live.
Many people have gone through things like that. But because I had the incredible good fortune of an extended family, grounded in love and loyalty, imbued with a sense of obligation imparted to each of us, I not only got help. But by focusing on my sons, I found my redemption.
The audio is drawn from a heartfelt speech he gave at a commencement speech at Yale which was widely circulated after he lost his son Beau to cancer.
The speech quickly drew strong reactions among Democrats. Former Obama senior advisor David Axelrod called it “tasteless” and “exploitative.”
Am I alone in finding this Draft Biden ad tasteless? It’s powerful, but exploitative. Can’t believe he’d approve. http://t.co/HJuoWXDgAs
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) October 7, 2015
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest admitted that he “found it compelling.”
“Vice President Biden’s personal story is as powerful as any story in American politics,” he said. “And he also has a uniquely powerful way of telling that story and using it to inspire other people.”
According to some sources, the Biden family may decide on a presidential run this weekend, although he is unlikely to join the CNN Democratic debate next week.
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