Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) signaled Thursday that she may back former Vice President Joe Biden over fellow California Democrat Senator Kamala Harris for president in 2020.
“I’ve worked with him, I saw him in action, I saw him as vice president, I saw his growth, his ability, and I saw his humanity,” Feinstein told reporters, according to Roll Call. “He’s an incredible human being, so it’s very hard for me, if he runs, to ignore that.”
Asked about Harris mulling a White House bid, the 85-year-old lawmaker said, “I love Kamala. But this is a different kind of thing.”
Speaking with Politico earlier Thursday, Feinstein lauded Biden’s experience as a former Senate Judiciary Committee member — a panel the California Democrat is now a top lawmaker on. “Joe was chairman of the Judiciary [Committee] when he came to this place. I’ve watched him as vice president, I’ve seen him operate, I’ve seen him perform,” she said. “He brings a level of experience and seniority which I think is really important.”
Feinstein told the news outlet that she has yet to discuss a possible 2020 bid with Biden, saying, “That’s just my view.”
Her remarks come after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said in an interview that Biden has the “best case” for mounting a White House bid.
Cuomo told radio station WAMC on Wednesday that the “secret ingredient” to the former vice president’s appeal is his “credibility.”
“I think of all the names that are out there, I think Joe Biden has the best case,” Cuomo said. “I think Joe Biden has the best case because he brings the most of the secret ingredient you need to win for a Democrat, which is credibility.”
During a speaking engagement at the University of Montana last month, Biden said he believes he is the “most qualified person” to be commander-in-chief “I’ll be as straight with you as I can. I think I’m the most qualified person in the country to be president,” Biden said, per CNN. “The issues that we face as a country today are the issues that have been in my wheelhouse, that I’ve worked on my whole life.”
Biden topped Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in a hypothetical 2020 race against President Donald Trump, with the former vice president leading the president 42 percent to 36 percent, according to The Hill-HarrisX poll published in late December.
However, some Democrats view Biden as too old to carry the mantle of the Democratic Party.
According to The Atlantic, several midterm campaigns opted not to use the 76-year-old’s endorsement videos because they gave the impression that he is “too tired and worn out”:
When his August eulogy at one of John McCain’s funeral services went viral, the inbox of every address people could find for him was flooded with emails telling him how much the country needed him now. However, of the day’s worth of videos and robocalls Biden recorded for midterm candidates, many weren’t used, with several of the campaigns deciding that he came off as too tired and worn out, according to people familiar with the decisions to keep them on the shelf.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is the only major Democrat candidate to announce a serious step towards a run in 2020, launching a presidential exploratory committee on Monday.
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