Biden said Clinton likely felt obliged to run for president and that the historic nature of her bid weighed on her decision-making.
"She thought she had no choice but to run. That, as the first woman who had an opportunity to win the presidency, I think it was a real burden on her," Biden said.
Thursday`s interview was the latest assessment from the Obama administration about why Democrats fared so poorly in this year`s vote. Biden, along with President Barack Obama, have argued their party didn`t pay enough attention to working-class voters outside large urban centers.
Biden -- who said in the interview he, like Obama, was planning to remain living part-time in Washington after January -- said voters were looking for a candidate who could connect to their struggles.
"I believe that we were not letting an awful lot of people -- high school-educated, mostly Caucasian, but also people of color -- know that we understood their problems," he said.
He claimed to the LA Times there`s "a bit of elitism that`s crept in" to Democratic thinking.
"What are the arguments we`re hearing? `Well, we`ve got to be more progressive.` I`m not saying we should be less progressive," Biden said. "We should be proud of where the hell we are, and not yield an inch.
"In the meantime, you can`t eat equality," he added.
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