Joe Biden

=== 2008 campaign ===
{{Main|Joe Biden 2008 presidential campaign}}
[[File:Sen. Joe Biden attends a Creston house party.jpg|thumb|Biden campaigns at a [[political houseparty|house party]] in [[Creston, Iowa]], July 2007.|alt=Photo of Biden, casually dressed, talking with a citizen in a garden]]

After exploring the possibility of a run in several previous cycles, in January 2007, Biden declared [[2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries|his candidacy in the 2008 elections]].<ref name="aap08-366" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 12, 2003 |title=Sen. Biden not running for president |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/08/11/biden/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=September 18, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209123957/http://edition.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/08/11/biden/index.html |archive-date=February 9, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Balz |first=Dan |author-link=Dan Balz |date=February 1, 2007 |title=Biden Stumbles at the Starting Gate |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013100404.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 23, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018123657/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013100404.html |archive-date=October 18, 2017}}</ref> During his campaign, Biden focused on the [[Iraq War]], his record as chairman of major Senate committees, and his foreign-policy experience.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 19, 2007 |title=Transcript: The Democratic Debate |work=[[ABC News]] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Decision2008/Story?id=3498294&page=1 |url-status=live |access-date=September 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011185127/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Decision2008/story?id=3498294&page=1 |archive-date=October 11, 2008}}</ref> Biden was noted for his [[one-line joke|one-liners]] during the campaign; in one debate he said of Republican candidate [[Rudy Giuliani]]: "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, and a verb and 9/11."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Farrell |first=Joelle |date=November 1, 2007 |title=A noun, a verb and 9/11 |work=[[Concord Monitor]] |url=https://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071101/NEWS01/711010358/1043/NEWS01 |url-status=dead |access-date=August 23, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828010554/http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20071101%2FNEWS01%2F711010358%2F1043%2FNEWS01 |archive-date=August 28, 2008}}</ref>

Biden had difficulty raising funds, struggled to draw people to his rallies, and failed to gain traction against the high-profile candidacies of Obama and Senator [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>{{cite web |date=August 25, 2008 |title=Conventions 2008: Sen. Joseph Biden (D) |url=https://www.nationaljournal.com/conventions/co_20080825_3122.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906210353/http://www.nationaljournal.com/conventions/co_20080825_3122.php |archive-date=September 6, 2008 |access-date=September 16, 2008 |website=[[National Journal]]}}</ref> He never rose above single digits in [[Nationwide opinion polling for the Democratic Party 2008 presidential candidates|national polls of the Democratic candidates]]. In the first contest on January 3, 2008, Biden placed fifth in the [[Iowa Democratic caucuses, 2008|Iowa caucuses]], garnering slightly less than one percent of the state delegates.<ref>{{cite web |title=Iowa Democratic Party Caucus Results |url=https://www.iowacaucusresults.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229055041/http://www.iowacaucusresults.com/ |archive-date=December 29, 2008 |access-date=August 28, 2021 |publisher=[[Iowa Democratic Party]]}}</ref> He withdrew from the race that evening.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Murray |first=Shailagh |date=January 4, 2008 |title=Biden, Dodd Withdraw From Race |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010400260.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080520022844/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010400260.html |archive-date=May 20, 2008}}</ref>

Despite its lack of success, Biden's 2008 campaign raised his stature in the political world.<ref name="gamechange">{{Cite book |last1=Heilemann |first1=John |title=Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime |title-link=Game Change |last2=Halperin |first2=Mark |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-06-173363-5 |location=New York |author-link=John Heilemann |author-link2=Mark Halperin}}</ref>{{rp|336}} In particular, it changed the relationship between Biden and Obama. Although they had served together on the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]], they had not been close: Biden resented Obama's quick rise to political stardom,<ref name="nytm-traub" />{{sfn|Wolffe|2009|p=218}} while Obama viewed Biden as garrulous and patronizing.<ref name="gamechange" />{{rp|28, 337–338}} Having gotten to know each other during 2007, Obama appreciated Biden's campaign style and appeal to working-class voters, and Biden said he became convinced Obama was "the real deal".{{sfn|Wolffe|2009|p=218}}<ref name="gamechange" />{{rp|28, 337–338}}