WITH a comeback of which Frank Sinatra would have been proud, Joe Biden has put himself well into the lead to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for the US Presidential election on Tuesday, November 3.

From being well behind in the race, Biden has won 19 of the last 24 state contests, with the latest being a clean sweep of Florida, Arizona and Illinois announced on Tuesday and yesterday.

His opponent Bernie Sanders has not conceded defeat, but many of the states still to hold primaries or caucuses are seen as favourable to Biden and last night the American media reported that Sanders was considering his position.

With some results still to be declared, Biden now has around 1200 delegates committed – well short of the 1991 needed to win the nomination, but around 300 more than Sanders has achieved.

Coincidentally, on Tuesday President Donald Trump officially secured the Republican Party nomination when he achieved the necessary number of delegates.

HOW HAS BIDEN DONE IT?

IT really is one of the most remarkable political comebacks of all time.

The former vice-president in the administration of Barack Obama looked down and out at the start of the official campaigning season, and by the end of February his main rival Sanders was out in front and had the “big mo”, as Americans call momentum.

Then along came the primary in South Carolina on February 29 to make it a memorable Leap Day for Biden.

He won 48.7% of the popular vote and won every country in the state for a landslide win over Sanders. The other candidates finished nowhere and it made the race a two-horse affair, with Tom Steyer, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg dropping out immediately.

Biden could then position himself as the candidate of the centre-right of the party against the progressive Sanders – no one is ever really a leftie in American politics – and the momentum switched to Biden.

Most Democrats started to decide that though they admire Sanders, a left-wing candidate will have no chance in a country dominated by the right and a populist president.

A few days later, on Super Tuesday, the momentum was all with Biden and he won 10 of the 14 states, though Sanders took the biggest of them all, California.

This week, however, has confirmed Biden as clear front runner and, barring accidents, he should be the man to take on Trump in November.

A BRIEF LIFE AND CV, PLEASE

JOSEPH Robinette Biden, Jr was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden and Joseph Robinette Biden, Sr. He is the eldest of four children.

When Joe was 10, the Biden family moved to Claymont, Delaware, to look for better work. It becomes the state Joe calls home and for which he is now the senator. He was a student at the University of Delaware before going on to Syracuse University to study law.

He became political at university, saying: “During my adolescent and college years, men and women were changing the country – Martin Luther King, Jr, John F Kennedy, Robert Kennedy – and I was swept up in their eloquence, their conviction, the sheer size of their improbable dreams.”

Biden became a senator at 29, then within weeks suffered the heartbreaking loss of his wife Neilia and daughter Naomi, who were killed in a car crash in which his sons Hunter and Beau were critically injured but survived. He has since married his second wife Jill, and they have a daughter, Ashley.

Biden was a keen environmentalist from the start and also advocated nuclear disarmament. He was chairman or ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee for 16 years and also took on the National Rifle Association – and won.

He also became increasingly influential in foreign affairs, and it was no surprise that Barack Obama asked him to be his running mate.

Obama said: “He’s an expert on foreign policy whose heart and values are rooted firmly in the middle class. He has stared down dictators and spoken out for America’s cops and firefighters. He is uniquely suited to be my partner as we work to put our country back on track.”

While in office, Biden suffered the loss of his son Beau, who died of brain cancer.

When he left the office of vice-president, most people thought he would run for the presidency and go up against Hillary Clinton and Sanders to be the Democrats’ candidate against Trump, but he was still raw from the death of his son and declined to be nominated.

Now at the age of 77, four years older than Trump, he is showing youthful zest as he goes for the top job.

MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION – CAN HE BEAT TRUMP?

HIS age and the criticism of his family for “profiteering” may count against him, and the right will not have been endeared for his support for equal marriage, gay rights and Obamacare, but Biden has looked increasingly presidential as the campaign has gone on.

He has also announced that he will choose a woman as his running mate.

His decisive and dignified response to coronavirus has swung many into his camp, especially compared to Trump’s dithering.

Political consultant and commentator David Axelrod tweeted yesterday: “At this point in 2008, @BarackObama was headed of @HillaryClinton by 100 delegates. At the end of tonight, @JoeBiden’s lead will be three times that. No Dem has ever come back from anything like this deficit.

“The race for the nomination is over. That is the reality @BernieSanders faces.”

Incredibly, from being an outsider in the betting, Biden is favourite to beat Trump. Oh, please.