In a speech to the nation, Vice President Joe Biden announced that he is not running for President in 2016.

Saying that he has “run out of time” to successfully mount a campaign for the Democratic nomination, Biden proceeded to give something akin to a stump speech.

Flanked in the White House Rose Garden by President Barack Obama, Biden said that he believed that the United States needed a “moonshot” type effort to cure cancer and fight against human suffering.

“If I could be anything, I would have wanted to be the president who ended cancer, because it’s possible,” Biden said.

The Vice President’s son Beau died in May of brain cancer at the age of 46.

Biden has been in national political life since he was elected to the Senate at 29 years of age.

Cover Photo Credit: Marc Nozell/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)

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Watch the Democratic Primary debate hosted by ABC News:

Rise News live blog: Here’s our snarky take on what is happening in the debate. 

RR: Rich Robinson

CB: Chris Beacham

CB 10:53PM: @RR I agree, another solid night for Clinton.

CB 10:52PM: Instead of watching Clinton’s closing remarks referencing Star Wars, America was actually watching Star Wars.

RR 10:50PM: Hillary has a real chance to position herself as a sort of “America’s grandmother” type of figure. Very solid closing.

RR 10:48PM: A bit meandering from O’Malley in the closing. A bit of family history, student loans, climate change. A hot mess as far as closing statements go.

RR 10:45PM: Solid closing from Sanders. Bringing the family history into it really helped soften him and make him more three-dimentional.

RR 10:42PM: Sorry @CB: I literally fell asleep there for a second.

CB 10:39PM: ABC is the biggest fail of the night. Just awful. Questions, moderation, not allowing candidates to respond to remarks made about them, moving on without Clinton for a minute, etc. CNN looks really good next to this.

RR 10:33PM: I don’t like this question about the President’s spouse. Seriously could not care less.

RR 10:30PM:Hillary is the only one that has come across as presidential tonight. O’Malley sounds like he is still Governor of Maryland and Bernie is trying to be everything to all people.

CB 10:27PM: It is an important issue-Clinton’s stance is just more reasonable.

CB 10:25PM: O’Malley wants to put 12 billion dollars towards the drug epidemic. Let’s talk about reducing the national debt.

CB 10:23PM: Sanders says he wants to  legalize marijuana and in the same breath says we need to get strict on opiates that are gateways to heroin. One can make the argument that marijuana is a gateway drug, and some doctors believe pot works like an opiate despite not technically being one.

CB 10:17PM: This debate just feels so unimportant despite the important issues.

CB 10:14PM: ……..zzzzzzzzz

RR 10:07PM: Back to Maryland for ole Martin. Is Maryland a utopian state? Sounds like it by the way he talks it up.

RR 10:03PM: Hillary questioning Sanders’ plan on healthcare and education.

CB 9:59PM: I agree with Sanders on colleges too. Spend a lot of money on unnecessary things that should be towards education or scholarships.

RR 9:59PM: Bernie sounds like he really doesn’t have a plan to pay for his universal healthcare plan.

CB 9:53PM: Obamacare does need a lot of fixing. But getting rid of the idea of universal healthcare shouldn’t be the answer.

CB 9:51PM: @RR Lol yeah, those had been there for awhile.

RR 9:49PM: Hillary finally gets to dust off those O’Malley opposition research reports sitting on the nightstand.

CB 9:48PM: We need some Trump to liven this up. Somebody needs to say something totally ridiculous.

CB 9:47PM: @RR Yeah, and that’s the DNC’s fault. It annoys me how rigged this is.

RR 9:45PM: “The greed of the billionaire class and the greed of Wall Street is destroying this economy,” Sanders.

CB 9:45PM: Sanders nails it on Wall Street

RR: 9:44PM: The problem for O’Malley is that he doesn’t have a lot of cash and the cash he does have, he is spending at a pretty high rate. He could have made a splash if these debates were higher profile but they really don’t mean anything.

CB 9:40PM: I think this is O’Malley’s worst debate. May be his last.

RR 9:39PM: I just don’t think that O’Malley constantly pivoting to his record in Maryland really works. People aren’t that interested. They want to hear about the future.

CB 9:38PM: Just wait for Clinton, ABC. This is a shitshow

RR 9:37PM: Hillary comes back late to the podium after ABC was on air for over a minute.

CB 9:36PM: Uh, where’s Hillary?

CB 9:30PM: Clinton wants to take out Assad? News to me.

RR 9:29PM: His name is Sanders, not Saunders. David Muir is having a hard time with that one.

RR 9:28PM: @CB: Interesting that O’Malley is using that tact. There are a whole lot of older folks in early states who will not appreciate it. (And many of them are activists who make a whole bunch of phone calls.)

CB 9:27PM: Audible gasps at O’Malley generation remark.

RR 9:26PM: Is O’Malley not a big NATO fan? Not really understanding his point in terms of how the US pivots to a new system of alliances.

CB 9:24PM: ABC is doing a terrible time. CNN has mastered the “let the person that was referenced respond” tactic

RR 9:23PM: Yeah, if we leave now then we can make the 10 PM showing.

CB 9:23PM: Wanna go see Star Wars?

CB 9:22PM: LOL @RR yeah this sucks

CB 9:22PM: Clinton actually is knowledgeable about foreign policy. No fear-mongering

RR 9:21PM: Oh wait a minute… Bernie is starting to go after Hillary on her penchant to support regime change. But he is not really being forceful about it.

RR 9:21PM: This is without a doubt, one of the most boring things I have ever watched in my entire life.

CB 9:18PM: Oh, so they’re letting Clinton break the rules…

RR 9:16PM: Hillary is getting pressed on foreign policy this evening. It is actually interesting to see her present a plan about how to engage with the Arab world.

RR 9:08PM: Hillary just went all grandma up in that answer. I don’t know the internets too good.

CB 9:04PM: Yes, it is okay to profile if there is suspicious behavior. Although I wouldn’t emphasize it excessively like the GOP, I agree political correctness shouldn’t be a primary motive.

RR 9:03PM: Meanwhile…

RR 8:56PM: O’Malley knows this is one of his last moments to make a difference and wants to drag it in the mud.

CB 8:56PM: O’Malley did some coke before the debate.

CB 8:54PM: Although I don’t know that they were moving on to something entirely different.

CB 8:42PM: Nicely handled by Bernie. O’Malley is overboard here.

Cover Photo Credit: Marc Nozell/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)

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