BALTIMORE (CNN) – The cast of Republicans battling for their party’s nomination has amounted to divine intervention for Democrats, Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday.
“We may be given a gift from the Lord in the presidential race here,” Biden told House Democrats during their annual party retreat in Baltimore. “I don’t know who to root for more — (Sen. Ted) Cruz or…what’s that guy’s name? He’s having a fundraiser for veterans tonight, I’m told.”
His name, of course, is Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman who leads most national polls for the Republican nomination. Instead of participating in Thursday evening’s Fox News debate in Iowa, Trump says he’s holding a fundraiser for wounded servicemen and women.
Biden has never hid his feelings about Trump, calling his immigration message “sick” over the summer and railing against the Republican candidate’s plan to bar Muslims from entering the country.
Those feelings aside, Biden chose to forgo a battle against Trump for the presidency, announcing last fall he wouldn’t enter the race.
The Vice President told House Democrats that they need to remind voters this fall about the Obama Administration’s record and “keep pounding” on the policies Republicans in Congress are pushing.
“The best way to win is to run on what we’ve done and what we stand for, and run on what more we are trying to do. Make it clear what we have to do to finish the agenda, and then contrast that to what they are for and what they oppose. We don’t do it nearly enough,” Biden said. Referring to the GOP, he said, “they get us debating with ourselves on what we are for and we never talk about as a practical matter nationally we never talk about what they are really for.”
But Biden warned Democrats that many voters aren’t aware of what they have done over the last seven years or what the GOP wants to do. “Right now a lot of places Americans are so confused — they’re basically still just ‘a pox on both their houses.’” He added: “We shouldn’t apologize on what we’re for and we should point out what they are for.”
The Vice President called House Speaker Paul Ryan a “lovely guy” but he said the budget he drafted was “a gift” to Democrats because it allows them to show a contrast, mentioning the proposed cuts to education and Medicaid.
“You don’t have to make anything up,” Biden said as Democrats laughed, adding, “just say what they’ve done.”
In what was partly an overview of the Obama Administration’s policies over the last seven years, and partly a pep talk for taking on the GOP in 2016, Biden was upbeat about Democrats’ chances to retake both chambers of Congress. Many political analysts agree the Senate battle will be close, but few think Democrats can pick up the nearly 30 seats they would need to return them to power in the lower chamber.
“It’s been a tough last couple of cycles,” Biden noted to House Democrats, whose ranks have dwindled to fewer than 200 seats since the GOP took control in 2010. “There’s a real shot.”
Biden added, “I’m confident we can win back the Senate and I think we can make great inroads and even win back the House — when no one expects it now.”
