Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden[1] sits at the top of the polls in the Democratic presidential race, but Iowa Democratic Party[2] official said he may have already hit the ceiling of his support.
Mr. Biden[3]’s anticipated entry into the race this month has been clouded by seven women coming forward with complaints about his overly-friendly touching and kissing of them over the years, sparking an intra-party debate over whether the 76-year-old politico is up to speed with today’s political culture.
The doubts about Mr. Biden[4] run deeper in the proving ground of Iowa. Democratic Party[5] officials in counties across the Hawkeye State said his near-universal name recognition accounted for his early lead, but he is so well known that he doesn’t generate excitement needed to grow his base.
“A lot of people are saying maybe his numbers have peaked,” said Bret Nilles, the Democratic Party[6] chairman in Linn County, the second-most populous county in the state and home to Cedar Rapids. “People seem to be leaning toward saying, ‘I want somebody new and somebody energetic.’”
The rift over Mr. Biden[7] appears as a generational split, with the opposition coming mostly from younger Democrats who tilt further left or embrace socialist ideas.
But Mr. Nilles, who is 60 years old, said the thirst for a new leader also comes from Mr. Biden[8]’s generation, who mostly do not object to his hands-on interactions with women in public settings.
“I just got off the phone a couple minutes ago with my mother, and she said, ‘Boy, you know, I really like Joe as a person,’” he said, noting that his mother met Mr. Biden[9] during his 2008 presidential run. “And she said, ‘Maybe it is not his time any longer.’ That’s my mother and she is older than him. She’s 80.”
Mr. Biden[10] twice ran unsuccessfully for president.
In 1988, he dropped out before the Iowa Caucus when his run was rocked by a plagiarism scandal in which he cribbed a speech by British Labour Leader Neil Kinnock.
Mr. Biden[11] finished fifth in the 2008 Iowa Caucuses with less than 1-percent support and then dropped out of the race.In Delaware County,
Democratic Party[12] Chair Robin Stone said Mr. Biden[13]’s handling of women was the tip of the iceberg.“He needs to take responsibility and change his behavior but he is not guilty of sexual assault,” she said. “As far as his presidential aspirations, his policies are also not of the times and he needs to maintain his elder statesman status and stay out of the race.”
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Mr. Biden[14] is expected to enter the race this month and said Friday that he will make