Vice President Joe Biden still considering 2016 bid

It’s been months since I’ve been able to comment on Vice President Joe Biden, but it appears he’s still thinking over the prospects of a 2016 presidential run and hasn’t yet ruled it out. The timeline given is early August for Biden to pull the trigger and launch a campaign, or decide that he’s already reached the pinnacle of his political career as Vice President.

Report from 4029tv.com:

As Vice President Joe Biden slowly returns to official duties in Washington following his son’s death, a decision on mounting a third presidential bid looms in the not-so-distant future.

In just more than a month, Biden will determine whether or not to make another go at the top job. And while many Democrats say they’re doubtful he will launch a presidential campaign, his supporters are holding out hope he decides to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

As he steps back into public life, Biden has set an early August deadline for making his intentions known, said a Democrat familiar with his thinking. Before his son’s death, Biden consistently said he wasn’t ruling out making a third bid for president.

U.S. News and World Report first reported Biden’s August deadline. His office declined to comment on Biden’s presidential aspirations.

In his last public update in April, he told a group of regional reporters at the White House he had “plenty of time” to make a decision about running. Since then, Hillary Clinton has begun campaigning in earnest, holding a kick-off rally in New York City and traveling to early voting states to try and consolidate what began as a massive lead among Democratic voters.

I’m not sure where Biden has a road to the nomination. It’s actually quite difficult, historically speaking, for Vice Presidents to successfully win election running on their predecessor’s record. Biden is more along the lines of Hillary Clinton in political terms, than a Bernie Sanders or Martin O’Malley.

I was saddened to hear of his son’s passing and I wish the family well.


Nate Ashworth

The Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Election Central. He's been blogging elections and politics for over a decade. He started covering the 2008 Presidential Election which turned into a full-time political blog in 2012 and 2016 that continues today.

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