Now or never for Joe.
The announced Charleston visit from former Vice President Joe Biden has excited many of the state’s Democrats about the possible presidential run they were denied in 2016.
Biden will speak before an influential black audience next month in what is the first high-profile visit from a potential 2020 presidential candidate in this early primary state with more appearances from others being expected, despite the election being three years away.
Many of the state’s Democrats said they hope Biden throws his hat into the race that he decided to stay out of last year after his son Beau Biden died from brain cancer.
“I think there are people all over the country who wished he ran in ’16 and would support him in ’20,” said Amanda Loveday, former S.C. Democratic Party executive director and longtime Biden supporter.
S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson calls Biden a genuine leader and person who connects with the average resident.
“I think that there is a group of individuals in South Carolina who are ready to march into hell and back if Joe Biden announces he’s going to run for president,” Robertson said.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn said Biden’s love affair with South Carolina, and specifically the Charleston area, is clear — and reciprocated.
Biden joined Clyburn, a Columbia Democrat, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in Charleston in April to unveil a statue for his good friend Fritz Hollings, a former governor and U.S. senator. Biden, a former longtime Delaware senator, delivered the eulogy at the funeral for U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, a South Carolina political icon.
When giving the Senate oath of office to North Charleston Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott in January, Biden said: “When I die, I want to be reborn in Charleston.”
He attended a Sunday service at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church after the mass shooting in June 2015. And for years he’s vacationed on Kiawah Island.
Next up, Biden is coming to Charleston to serve as the keynote speaker for the Sept. 23 Charleston branch of the NAACP’s 100th anniversary fundraising dinner.