Draft Biden PAC TV ad encourages VP to run in presidential election

As Vice President Joe Biden supporters await his decision to run or not run for president in the 2016 presidential elections, a political action committee is urging the former Delaware senator to announce his bid.

Draft Biden, a super PAC formed to encourage Vice President Biden to run for president, released its first national television advertisement Wednesday morning.

The committee said it hopes the ad, which features images of the Biden family and excerpts from a recent graduation speech, will prompt the vice president to announce.

The ad titled “My Redemption” highlights the tragic loss of the vice president’s wife Neilia and 13-month-old daughter Naomi during a 1972 car accident and how this incident made Biden a stronger individual. Throughout the 90-second ad, excerpts of Biden’s commencement address at Yale University this past May are featured:

“The incredible bond I have with my children is the gift I’m not sure I would have had, had I not been through what I went through. But by focusing on my sons, I found my redemption. Many people have gone through things like that.” It ends with the plea, “Joe, run.”

Biden has been considering a presidential run for several months. Supporters have also encouraged him to run since May when, after a two-year battle with brain cancer, his son, Beau Biden, died.

While on his death bed, Beau, the former Delaware Attorney General, allegedly urged his father to run for president.

The first Democratic debate will be held Oct. 13 in Las Vegas, and Biden is not expected to attend.

Draft Biden 2016 hopes its work will convince Biden that he is the best person to lead the country. The group also has started a petition, which it says has received more than 200,000 signatures.

On the website, the group says Biden is a strong candidate because; “Whether it’s the issues we face today, or the challenges going forward, we believe there could be no stronger candidate in the race to lead us than Vice President Joe Biden. From his powerful role in the Obama administration to his years as a Senator from Delaware. But, before he can lead, we need to stand behind him.”

The ad, which the committee say cost six-figures, was produced by one of President Barack Obama’s lead media consultants, Mark Putnam, who also worked on the Biden’s first presidential campaign in 1987.