Joe Biden looks and sounds like someone who is going to run for president of the United States in 2020.

Before he does, though, the former vice president needs to perform one simple but significant task. He needs to apologize to all those who might have felt uncomfortable as they received touchy-feely greetings from the longtime public official.

You know the story. Some women have disclosed that the former VP got a little too close for comfort to them. He grabbed them by the shoulders, got in their faces, kissed some of them on the top of their heads.

Did he commit an act of sexual deviancy? Did he assault them, as others in public life have done or have been accused of doing (such as the current president of the United States)? No. He hasn’t.

And in my view these acts that Biden allegedly did are not disqualifiers if he wants to run for the presidency.

However, the video he released in which he said “I get” that social norms have changed since he entered the national scene in 1972 as a young U.S. senator, doesn’t go quite far enough.

Biden should say he is sorry for what he did. By saying he is sorry, I don’t mean he should offer one of those lame “I am sorry if I offended” someone, or “I am sorry to those who are offended.”

He needs to say, “I am sorry for my actions. I regret them terribly. I have learned my lesson. I pledge to be a better man.”

If he does that, then he should launch his campaign . . . and go full throttle in a quest to win the Democratic Party presidential nomination. He is not my ideal candidate to defeat Donald Trump, but he would take a huge step toward that goal by saying he is sorry for the way he has behaved.