Biden juggling long list of issues to please Dem coalition partners
Joe Biden is juggling a long list of issues to please Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s coalition partners in her quest to win the White House, including a push to bring prescription drugs to states hit hardest by the opioid crisis.
Biden, who has spent the past two weeks touring the country, has also made stops in New Hampshire and Florida, where he’ll be the keynote speaker at a rally at the Democratic National Convention in July.
The former vice president, who is scheduled to join Clinton and Democratic colleagues at a gala next week, is pressing Congress to approve the controversial House-passed bill — which would require people who have received health insurance through their job to either buy insurance directly or be held responsible if they miss a month or more because they don’t carry the coverage.
Critics say the bill is a thinly-veiled effort by House Democrats to force people to buy plans they don’t want on the market. Even if it were to pass the Senate, Democrats could still be blocked in the House, where Republicans would like to see the bill killed.
Aides said Biden will speak at the convention, which is being held at the Miami-area Bayfront Park Marriott on Nov. 1. That is before the start of a four-day swing through the early voting states and the Super Tuesday contests that offer a chance to test the presidential candidates’ appeal to black voters, Latinos and college-educated white women.
Biden’s aides stressed that the former vice president was not trying to change the conversation about health care, where the Democrats are trying to put their stamp on the debate by focusing on access to care.
“We’ve got to get the care we need to get, but we’ve got to do it in a way that makes sure that people don’t die,”