Joe Biden knew he was capable of beating Hillary Clinton in the presidential race - but decided not to run fearing a 'stop at nothing' campaign by her backers, the former vice president has revealed in his new memoir.
In Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose, set to be released November 14, Biden reveals how he wrestled with the idea of running for office before and after his son Beau's death, and even admits he did not want to be Obama's vice president in 2008.
The book documents Biden's life as President Obama's tenure drew to a close and the media's focus had shifted to the prospects of the presidency.
It is certain to fuel the bitter infighting in the Democrats which has lasted since they were shocked by Clinton's defeat a year ago Wednesday.
Biden offers little direct personal criticism of Clinton but his message is unmistakable.
Clinton was the only opposition to him - and what he does not say in the book is what 'stop at nothing' would mean.
But at the time his bereaved family was being torn apart by his surviving son Hunter's bitter split from his wife amid accusations of blowing a fortune on drugs and sex with prostitutes.
Hunter then started a new relationship, with his brother Beau's widow.
Biden is to start promoting the book with an appearance on the NBC's Today show on Monday and an extended book tour which will see him appear on stage with big names including Stephen Colbert, Aaron Sorkin, the writer of the West Wing, and Maria Shriver, Arnold Schwarzenegger's ex-wife and a member of the Kennedy clan.
The tour is likely to be seen as part of a move towards another run for the White House by Biden, whose book does not rule one out or suggest that his public life is over.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5060025/Joe-Biden-Hillary-backers-stop-nothing.html
It even includes a detailed list of policies which he would have run on.
And it makes clear how Biden was convinced he would have beaten Clinton, who he called a 'vulnerable' candidate.
By early August of 2015, three months after Beau succumbed to brain cancer, Biden's ratings were higher than any other candidate in the race, despite the fact that he had not made an official decision to run.
The campaigns being run at the time, he writes, were 'dreary, small and personal' - another hit at Clinton's effort for the White House.
In Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose, set to be released November 14, Biden reveals how he wrestled with the idea of running for office before and after his son Beau's death, and even admits he did not want to be Obama's vice president in 2008.
The book documents Biden's life as President Obama's tenure drew to a close and the media's focus had shifted to the prospects of the presidency.
It is certain to fuel the bitter infighting in the Democrats which has lasted since they were shocked by Clinton's defeat a year ago Wednesday.
Biden offers little direct personal criticism of Clinton but his message is unmistakable.
he writes.'My numbers on trustworthiness, honesty, and empathy were as high as they had ever been. And I was strongest where the most formidable candidate, Hillary Clinton, was weakest: the key swing states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida,'
Clinton was the only opposition to him - and what he does not say in the book is what 'stop at nothing' would mean.
But at the time his bereaved family was being torn apart by his surviving son Hunter's bitter split from his wife amid accusations of blowing a fortune on drugs and sex with prostitutes.
Hunter then started a new relationship, with his brother Beau's widow.
Biden is to start promoting the book with an appearance on the NBC's Today show on Monday and an extended book tour which will see him appear on stage with big names including Stephen Colbert, Aaron Sorkin, the writer of the West Wing, and Maria Shriver, Arnold Schwarzenegger's ex-wife and a member of the Kennedy clan.
The tour is likely to be seen as part of a move towards another run for the White House by Biden, whose book does not rule one out or suggest that his public life is over.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5060025/Joe-Biden-Hillary-backers-stop-nothing.html
It even includes a detailed list of policies which he would have run on.
And it makes clear how Biden was convinced he would have beaten Clinton, who he called a 'vulnerable' candidate.
By early August of 2015, three months after Beau succumbed to brain cancer, Biden's ratings were higher than any other candidate in the race, despite the fact that he had not made an official decision to run.
The campaigns being run at the time, he writes, were 'dreary, small and personal' - another hit at Clinton's effort for the White House.