RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
The early presidential primary season is the time when most candidates have to say goodbye. Last night, two withdrew - Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Biden.
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
This was Biden's second run at the White House and in a recent interview he recalled the way that his campaign imploded back in 1987.
Senator JOE BIDEN (Democrat, Delaware): I didn't deserve to be president just based on the Richter scale of was I tough enough and did I understand the process.
INSKEEP: Wait a minute, are you saying the system worked?
Sen. BIDEN: The system worked.
INSKEEP: In shoving you out…
Sen. BIDEN: The system worked.
INSKEEP: …before you even got to the election year?
Sen. BIDEN: In a strange way, it did work.
MONTAGNE: Two decades later, Senator Biden is among the most experienced Democrats and he made it into the election year, but only by three days. Last night, Joe Biden told supporters.
Sen. BIDEN: One of the things I decided when I decided to run, when Jill and the boys and Ashley said, hey, dad, give it a shot. I committed that I would say exactly what I believe. I committed that I would not, in any way, truncate anything I thought needed to be said. And ladies and gentlemen, we've done it. And let me make something clear to you, I ain't going away.
(Soundbite of applause)
MONTAGNE: Now Joe Biden returns to his day job as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.