Former Vice President Joe Biden hasn’t even officially announced his 2020 presidential candidacy, and yet he’s already spent the past several months apologizing.
As an old white guy whose political career dates back to the early 1970s, Biden adopted many positions over the years that put him at odds with the younger and much more diverse modern Democratic Party, whose nomination he may soon be seeking.
On Tuesday, speaking to activists fighting sexual assault on college campuses, Biden said he had regrets from the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings, which he oversaw as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“She was abused through the hearing, she was taken advantage of, her reputation was attacked,” Biden said. “I wish I could have done something, and I opposed Clarence Thomas’ nomination — I voted against him.”
Though conservatives remember the hearings as a vicious smear campaign against Thomas, to liberals, the episode was an example of white male senators ganging up on a victim of sexual harassment, exactly the sort of dismissal of women that the #MeToo era has sought to combat.
Biden’s involvement is sure to dog him as he seeks the Democratic nomination, so it’s obvious he was trying to get ahead of the story. The problem is, this isn’t the first time he’s been forced to apologize for his past positions or attitudes.
In January, he was forced to apologize for having championed the 1994 crime law. “I haven’t always been right,” Biden said of his record on criminal justice. At the time, the legislation was viewed as a bipartisan effort, and an attempt by Democrats to combat the image of the party as being soft on crime. Subsequently, liberals have argued that it played a key role in ushering in an era of mass incarceration.
And last month, Biden was forced to back off comments calling Vice President Mike Pence a “decent guy” after being attacked on Twitter by actress turned politician Cynthia Nixon, who cited Pence’s stances on LGBT rights.
In poll after poll, Biden is in first place for the Democratic nomination — often by a comfortable amount. But as I previously argued, Biden’s biggest problem in the primaries isn’t necessarily his age but the fact that’s he’s outdated in a party that looks a lot different than the one in which he spent his formidable political years. The fact that he’s spent the run-up to any announcement apologizing for his past is not a good long-term sign for his candidacy, especially in a large and diverse field.
