Draft Biden [super PAC]

"My Redemption" +

:90 ad to run on national cable announced Oct. 7, 2015. --DID NOT RUN...PULLED OCT. 8


[Music]

Biden (audio): Things can change in a heartbeat.  I know.  Six weeks after my election, my whole world was altered forever.  I got a phone call.  My wife and three children were Christmas shopping, tractor-trailer broadside it, and killed my wife and killed my daughter, and they weren't sure that my sons would live.  The incredible bond I have with my children is a 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.  My dad's definition of success is when you look and your son and daughter and realize they turned out better than you, and they did.

You're on the cusp of some of the most astonishing breakthroughs in the history of mankind--scientific, technological, socially.  I'll be up to you in this changing world to translate those unprecedented capabilities into a greater measure of happiness and meaning not just for yourself, but for the world around you
 
        TEXT:  Joe, run.


Notes: Draft Biden announced this ad on Oct. 7 when Vice President Biden was reported to be very close to making an announcement about his decision on whether to run or not and with the first Democratic debate due in less than a week.  On Oct. 8 AP reported:

"The vice president appreciates that they are trying to help," the person close to the vice president said. "But he has seen the ad and thinks the ad treads on sacred ground and hopes they don't run it." 

The group said it would not run the ad.


According to the original Oct. 7 press release from Draft Biden:


The ad, which calls on Vice President Biden to run for President, is entitled “My Redemption,” and focuses on the strength of character that the Vice President developed enduring personal tragedy and sacrifice.

The 90-second ad features just the Vice President’s hushed voice during a commencement address at Yale University. “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 a simple ask: “Joe, run.”

The ad, which tells the story of how the Vice President developed his incredible sense of empathy and connection with the American people, was conceived and produced by one of President Obama’s lead media consultants, Mark Putnam, who also worked on the Vice President’s first presidential campaign in 1987.

The ad will run on national cable with a six-figure buy.