Joe Biden secures Democrats nomination as presidential candidate

United States Democrats have endorsed and nominated Joe Biden as their presidential candidate, formally designating the Washington veteran as the party’s challenger to incumbent President Donald Trump in the November election.

“Thank you all, it means the world to me and my family – and I’ll see you on Thursday!” Biden said in a live webcast after the vote was complete.

In a unique roll call vote that took place entirely online due to the coronavirus pandemic, each of the 50 states and seven territories announced their vote tallies for Biden and for the race’s second-place finisher, the progressive Senator Bernie Sanders.

Biden ran for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, formally declaring his candidacy at the Wilmington train station on June 9, 1987. When the campaign began, he was considered a potentially strong candidate because of his moderate image, his speaking ability on the stump, his appeal to Baby Boomers, his high-profile position as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the upcoming Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination hearings, and his fundraising appeal. Biden raised $1.7 million in the first quarter of 1987, more than any other candidate.

By August 1987, Biden’s campaign, whose messaging was confused due to staff rivalries, had begun to lag behind those of Michael Dukakis and Dick Gephardt, though he had still raised more funds than any candidate but Dukakis, and was seeing an upturn in Iowa polls.

However, in September 1987, the campaign ran into trouble when he was accused of plagiarizing a speech that had been made earlier that year by British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock.