Biden Relief: Philly-area Dems now free to back Clinton

[onehandle]

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WASHINGTON – When Joe Biden announced last week that he wouldn’t run for president, it wasn’t just Hillary Clinton who breathed a sigh of relief. So did many Democrats from the Philadelphia area. Clinton, after all, has many of Pennsylvania's leading Democrats in her corner. But a run by the Scranton-born Biden, who long represented neighboring Delaware and is a familiar face along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, would have created a dilemma for those still on the fence.

Witness today’s announcement by Delaware Sen. Tom Carper that he has endorsed Clinton for president – now that Biden has made his plans clear. “Out of deference and respect for another dear friend, Joe Biden, I withheld endorsing Hillary until today,” Carper said in a news release. “Now that Joe has decided not to run, I am prepared to give Hillary my full and enthusiastic support.”

Carper said he’s known Clinton for more than 20 years, and served with her in the Senate. “My wife, Martha, and I think the world of her,” Carper said. “She is the best candidate for the job as President, and I fully expect she will be elected next November.” Carper and fellow Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons has spoken highly of Biden, their state’s political patriarch.

Rep. Bob Brady, Philadelphia’s Democratic chairman, said he would have been torn if the vice president had run. Now, they don’t have to worry about making such a politically fraught choice. Brady said last week that he, too, would support Clinton. And in Biden's home state, she has won backing from Gov. Jack Markell and Democratic Congressman John Carney, per the Wilmington News-Journal.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/capitolinq/Biden-Relief-Philly-area-Dems-now-free-to-back-Clinton.html

The Philadelphia area will win Pennsylvania for Hillary in the GE.

[Agschmid]

1. Go Hillary!