Speaking to a room of almost 4,000 supporters of the nation’s largest LGBT rights group, Vice President Joe Biden was a person focused on the challenges of the future – not merely celebrating the successes of the past. “Biden shrugged at the possibility of his own presidential run” and “seemed dismissive of his own White House ambitions”, the outlet said. They are loved, and they are us.Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said the Pentagons current regulations banning transgender individuals are outdated and has ordered a study aimed at formally ending one of the last gender- or sexuality-based barriers to military service. Just a month ago, one cautioned, it looked as if he might not do it. And while a few say they have sensed a shift toward “yes”, nothing is definitive until Biden himself starts calling influential Democrats in early-voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire to tell them he is running. Last week, his schedule was consumed with the papal visit and the state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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Insiders quoted by CBS News now say that Biden is leaning toward throwing his hat in the ring.
The HRC gathering responded with prolonged and thunderous applause to that line and one that quickly followed: “I’m running for president to stand up for the fundamental rights of LGBT Americans and all Americans”.
HRC President Chad Griffin had appropriately introduced Biden to the crowd as, “Someone who has been known to be a little impatient when it comes to doing the right thing”. Despite CNN making clear that he would be welcome at the first Democratic presidential debate October 13, the vice president’s political team said he will skip it even if he decides to run.
The vice president – directly, no longer only through his advisers – has sounded more like someone inclined to jump into the race to challenge Hillary Clinton and the rest of the Democratic field.
The Human Rights Campaign made its first presidential endorsement in 1992, backing Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton cast herself as a champion for their cause.
But he said that if Biden got into the race, the vice president would cause a few second thoughts.
The country still hasn’t achieved equality, despite a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court giving gays and lesbians the right to marry nationwide, Cook said.
She committed to pushing equal rights in the military, including for transgender people. But during a speech to a gay rights group, he took a pre-emptive cheap shot at his potential opponents.
“The one way to change this overnight, would be to infuse in every mind in America that there are still 31 states that can deny you employment, and housing, etc…” There, his 2012 declaration in a “Meet the Press” interview that he supported same-sex marriage was hailed as an example of political courage.
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While the vice president dropped no hints Saturday night about a possible 2016 run, the issue confronted him just moments after he stepped on stage.
