Biden is running for president

Incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Joe Biden, pictured here in a 2006 file photo, will formally announce his plans to run as a Democratic candidate for president next year. Photo:Paul J. Richards/AFP

This is off The New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 — Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware on Sunday became the fourth Democrat to formally announce plans to run for president next year.

“I am running for president,” Mr. Biden said toward the end of an appearance on “Meet the Press” on NBC.

“I’m going to be Joe Biden, and I’m going to try to be the best Biden I can be,” he said. “If I can, I got a shot. If I can’t, I lose.”

He said he would file paperwork by the end of the month to establish an exploratory committee to gather support for his bid.

Mr. Biden, who was first elected to the Senate in 1972, also sought the presidential nomination in 1988. But he dropped out of the race after admitting that he had used speeches by other politicians without attribution, and after reports that he had plagiarized while in law school.

Mr. Biden, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, joins a widening field of Democratic presidential hopefuls. The others who have officially announced their candidacies are former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio and Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa.

Other potential Democratic contenders include Senators Hilary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. Among Republicans, Senator John McCain of Arizona, former Gov. George E. Pataki of New York and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, are expected to run.

I don't know why Biden is even bothering to run for president. Biden was caught plagiarizing a speech from British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock in his 1988 presidential campaign. Does Biden expect this issue to be buried, now that he's trying another presidential run? You can bet that the Republican swift boaters will revive the plagiarism issue to attack Biden.

President Biden? I'll say that I'm not too thrilled with that thought. Besides, McCain would probably trounce him.