On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden officially announced that he will not be running for presidential office in 2016, striking a disappointing blow to the Penn for Biden group.
College junior and former Daily Pennsylvanian staff reporter Samuel Byers and College sophomore Matthew Nielsen had launched Penn for Biden a little over a month ago when speculations of Biden running for office kicked into high gear.
“We were both Biden fans and we thought that whether or not he was eventually going to run, it would be a good idea to have a group ready,” Byers said. “We were fairly certain he would, and we thought there was no sense in waiting. We wanted to start getting people interested.”
In just a few weeks, Byers and Nielsen had gathered a couple of friends and a few members of Penn Democrats as core members, and their Penn for Biden Facebook page got over 60 followers. Their plan was to formalize membership, add officers and hold their first general body meeting in the week following the vice president’s candidacy announcement.
“When I learned he was officially not running, I was obviously disappointed,” Byers said. “But at the end of the day, I’m happy that he’s made the right decision for him and his family and we’re going to look towards the future.”
According to Byers, Penn for Biden is now in a state of indefinite hiatus “that will probably last forever.” The group members have decided to go their separate ways, though Byers says it is possible that the members may decide to sit down and endorse another candidate in the future.
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