CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — John Kerry stressed Joe Biden’s Day-One preparedness and downplayed the former vice president’s fourth-place Iowa standing in recent polls during his first speech in support of Biden’s presidential candidacy.
“Today I am endorsing Joe not because I’ve known him so long, but because I have known him so well,” Kerry, 75, said Friday during a town hall event. The two men worked together for decades when they were both senators and again in the White House when Kerry became secretary of state during President Barack Obama’s second term.
“The only team that’s worked more closely than us is Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin,” Kerry said.
Once a faraway front-runner in the crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates, Biden has fallen behind in Iowa primary polls. The RealClearPolitics average of Iowa polls puts Biden behind South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
[Read: John Kerry endorses Joe Biden for president]
Kerry suggested that recent Iowa polls do not mean much for the outcome of the Feb. 3 caucuses without mentioning Biden’s fourth-place standing directly.
“Sixteen years ago this month, pundits and polls had written me off,” Kerry said. In December 2003, Kerry was far behind Howard Dean and other candidates in national polls. “I would never dare tell an Iowan how to vote,” he added.
Kerry went on to win the 2004 Democratic nomination rather easily but lost that fall to Republican President George W. Bush.
Craig Nelson, a retired Cedar Rapids resident who attended the event, told the Washington Examiner that Kerry’s endorsement has a “positive impact” he is still undecided on who to support on Feb. 3. “One of my big points is getting the big money out, and some of the other candidates are talking about that,” he said.
Kerry subtly argued against voting for a protest candidate or exact ideological fit, noting Biden’s extensive experience.
“When you caucus in February, don’t just send a message. Send us a president,” Kerry said. “Send us Joe Biden.”
Kerry reportedly considered mounting his own 2020 presidential bid but said in June that he would remain on the sidelines.
“I’m so proud of the intensity of your support, not just your support,” Biden said, and he referred to Kerry as the winner of the Iowa caucus.
“If I get elected, I’m going to keep him involved,” Biden added near the end of his speech.
