2020 hopeful Delaney jabs at front-running Biden: 'I think my ideas are better'

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John Delaney says the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is wide open

John Delaney makes his case for succeeding President Trump.

CONCORD, NH – White House hopeful John Delaney apparently isn’t worried about new competition for the Democratic presidential nomination from the better-known Joe Biden.

The former vice president – who enjoys immense name recognition and long and strong political ties -- quickly established himself as a front-runner in the primary race after launching his campaign two weeks ago.

Delaney praised Biden, telling Fox News that Biden’s “very well known and he’s very well liked, and I admire him greatly."

JOHN DELANEY TAKES AIM AT PROGRESSIVE RIVALS FOR 2020 DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION

But the former three-term congressman from Maryland insisted: “I think my ideas are better. I think I’m a new face, which I think is what the party really wants. I think we want new ideas and new people.”

Biden and Delaney are both considered more moderate than many of their rivals for the nomination, such as Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Delaney, interviewed as he kicked off a jam-packed three-day campaign swing through the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire, applauded Biden for entering the fray.

“I think in many ways it’s a reminder that we need a moderate candidate who can win the center to beat Donald Trump. So in that regard I think it’s good because it will lead the party to a discussion we need to have, which is how we win,” he emphasized. “I think the former vice president entering the race will help accelerate that conversation.”

WATCH: DELANEY ON RUNNING AGAINST THE TRUMP ECONOMY

And he once again argued that only a centrist Democratic nominee can defeat Donald Trump in the 2020 general election.

“The only way we’re going to beat [Trump] is with a candidate the center believes will not derail the progress we’ve made economically,” Delaney said. “For example, if you put socialism on the ballot, we’re not going to win. If the economy’s doing well and we’re running on socialism, I think that’s a disaster for us.”

Delaney touted his resume, including being a “blue-collar kid” who was the first in his family to go to college.

“They also get someone who’s had experience in the Congress of the United States, has done a whole bunch of things with my life, started two companies, the youngest CEO in the history of the New York Stock Exchange, active career as a philanthropist,” he added.

Biden continues to steer clear of rivals' criticisms.

Speaking with donors at a fundraising event in California on Thursday, he reiterated his pledge that “you’ll never hear me speak ill of another Democratic candidate,” according to a press pool report.

But looking to the historically large field of Democratic White House contenders -- it has topped 20 -- Biden joked, "It's one heck of a field, although I never anticipated there'd be 300 people running.”

Delaney arrived in New Hampshire as the latest poll conducted in the crucial primary state indicated Biden is far ahead of the rest of the pack.

Biden stood at 36 percent support among likely Democratic primary voters, according to a Monmouth University poll conducted May 2-7.

Sanders, who crushed eventual nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary in New Hampshire and who's making his second straight White House run, was a distant second at 18 percent.

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg stood at 9 percent, with Warren at 8 percent and Sen. Kamala Harris of California at 6 percent.

Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas each stood at 2 percent. Everyone else registered at 1 percent or less.