Biden invokes Obama's choice as vice president to defend a record



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SUMTER, S.C. – Joe Biden will present his most direct response to questions about his record in the Senate on Saturday, particularly on race issues, saying his selection by Barack Obama as vice-president is the ultimate validation of the record.

"I was controlled by him and selected by him. I will consider his balance sheet, my character and my ability to manage the work at the expense of others, "Biden will say during an afternoon event in Sumter, South Carolina, according to remarks made in advance by his campaign.

The campaign indicates that Biden's remarks will focus on why he entered the public service and how his civil rights struggle "galvanized" him into becoming a public defender and running for office. Delaware County Council.

He will also repel rivals who want to "arm" his Senate service for decades and, in his view, falsify the record – arguing that he has long fought for a change in the Senate.

"America in 2019 is a very different place from America in the 1970s. And that's a good thing," says Biden. "I have witnessed an incredible number of changes in this country and I have worked for this change to happen. And yes, I've changed too.

The former vice president has been on the defensive for weeks after giving a speech at a fundraiser, stressing that he had to work alongside segregationists when he arrived at the Senate, but did it with "civility". Senator Kamala Harris of California seized this in the first democratic presidential debate to ask Biden why he joined some of these same lawmakers to fight the bus as a means of integrating segregated school systems.

The ensuing back and forth darkened Biden, especially this week while he and Harris were campaigning in Iowa. The current choice of South Carolina as a place to attempt to solve the problem – and to do so by so explicitly invoking the name of Obama – was notable in a state where African-American voters will likely constitute a majority of voters at the next election of February Primary first to the south.

A CBS News-YouGov survey of voters in South Carolina in mid-June showed that Biden's service as Obama's vice president was the main reason voters said to consider at the primary level. Biden was at the top of the ranking in this survey with 45%.

Ian Sams, national press officer for the Harris campaign, has preemptively replicated Biden's comments on Twitter.

"The record of each candidate will be (and should) be closely examined in this race. It's a contest to become president of the United States. There are no free passes, "he wrote.

Biden has not hesitated to emphasize his links with Obama throughout his campaign, often calling him "buddy" in his speeches and highlighting their partnership in some of the biggest political struggles of the administration, including the Law on affordable care.

A few days after announcing his candidacy, Biden's campaign published a video that included Obama's expansive praise when he handed him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the last days of his tenure at the White House.

Obama did not approve Biden in the primary, although a spokesman issued a statement congratulating him on his entry into the race – which they'd never done for a another candidate. The statement also clearly indicated Obama's preference for not getting involved in the primary.

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