WASHINGTON _ Former Vice President Joe Biden plans to take on critics who've begun digging into his decadeslong history in public life with a defense of his record and his character _ including that Barack Obama chose him as a running mate.
"America in 2019 is a very different place than the America of the 1970s. And that's a good thing," Biden will say later Saturday during a campaign stop in Sumter, S.C., according to excerpts provided by his campaign. "I've witnessed an incredible amount of change in this nation and I've worked to make that change happen. And yes _ I've changed also."
Biden, 76, will also lean on his ties to Obama. Then a senator from Delaware, Biden was vetted and selected by Obama in 2008 and "I will take his judgment of my record, my character, and my ability to handle the job over anyone else's," Biden will say.
The speech comes after weeks of scrutiny of Biden's record on race from his earliest years in the U.S. Senate. He recently spoke fondly of two pro-segregation senators and faced a debate-stage attack from California Sen. Kamala Harris over his opposition to federally mandated busing to desegregate schools in the 1970s.
Front-runner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination since officially entering the race in April, Biden is looking to turn the page. Months before the first votes are cast, his support has sagged in some opinion polls, thwarting an effort to breeze through the primary season and focus on the general election against President Donald Trump.
A RealClearPolitics compilation of recent national polls still shows Biden leading by about 10 percentage points over his nearest rivals, but his advantage has deteriorated steadily for the past two months.
Biden will stress in his speech that he intends to fight back against opponents' efforts to use his past positions and actions against him, and won't stand by if his record to be distorted and mischaracterized, a campaign official said on the condition of anonymity to preview the speech.
The candidate will also touch on a clear area of frustration for him and his campaign _ that he's being attacked on issues of race and civil rights despite spending eight years alongside Obama, the first black U.S. president.
"If you look at the issues I've been attacked on, nearly every one of them is for something well before 2008," Biden will say. "It's as if my opponents want you to believe I served from 1972 until 2008 _ and then took the next eight years off. They don't want to talk much about my time as vice president."
Biden was first elected to the U.S. senate in 1972.
Ian Sams, Harris' national press secretary, responded on Twitter to the early excerpts, writing: "Every candidate's record will (and should) be scrutinized in this race. It's a competition to become President of the United States. There are no free passes."
