Former vice president Joe Biden speaking with Irish Ambassador to the U.S., Dan Mulhall, at a 2018 book launch held at the Irish Embassy in Washington, D.C. Photo by Marty Katz.
By Ray O’Hanlon
Former vice president Joe Biden will be spending St. Patrick’s Day counting votes again.
He will be hoping for Irish luck in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio.
The reason he will be doing the counting was the outcome of the Super Tuesday count, and before that South Carolina.
The combined effect has given Biden a new lease on political life that could propel him all the way to the Democratic Party nomination in July.
Wrote Niall Stanage in The Hill newspaper of Biden: “The green shoots of a comeback were first seen with a second-place finish in Nevada’s caucuses on Feb. 22.
“But it was Biden’s thumping victory in the South Carolina primary on Saturday that really breathed new life into his campaign.”
Of course Biden’s comeback does not necessarily mean ultimate defeat for Bernie Sanders.
Again Niall Stanage: “Sanders’s setback should not be exaggerated. He is very much in the hunt for the nomination, and he has some formidable assets, not least the intensity of his supporters and formidable fundraising prowess. But he faces some serious questions.”
Many in the activist Irish American community will be today wondering if Sanders will be answering questions at the planned Irish American Presidential Forum set for Fordham Law School in Manhattan on Sunday, April 26, two days before the a series of northeastern primaries including that of New York.
A week ago the forum was looking like it might be held against a backdrop of a two candidate slugfest in the Democratic Party between Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg.
Bloomberg withdrew from the presidential race Wednesday leaving Sanders and Biden as the two leading contenders. Elizabeth Warren was reportedly reassessing her position.
An Irish American Presidential Forum would be akin to a home court play for Joe Biden who is proud of his Irish roots and ready to say so at any given opportunity.
April 26 at Fordham Law School would be one such and an especially appropriate opportunity.
