Biden Still Considering 2016 Run, Decision Soon

It seems like once a week I’m going these “Biden still considering a run” stories and continually he fails to make a decision under his own given timeline. Obviously the Vice President is trying to keep his name in the news as he continues to weigh the decision of challenging Hillary Clinton.

Report from the LA Times:

Vice President Joe Biden is nearing a final decision on a possible White House run, according to a message to his political network from one of his closest advisors.

“If he decides to run, we will need each and every one of you — yesterday,” says the message from Biden’s longtime aide Ted Kaufman.

The campaign would be motivated by his “burning conviction” to boost the middle class, the message says.

Biden is aware of looming deadlines for getting on the ballot in some states, but his “first and foremost consideration” remains the welfare of his family, Kaufman said in the message, which was obtained by The Times.

“He has been in public and political life a long time and he has a good grip on the mechanics around this decision,” Kaufman writes. “It will not surprise you, as it does not surprise me, what he will weigh in the decision and what — being Joe Biden — he will not.”

The letter offers the most significant insight yet into the thinking of the small circle of Biden loyalists who have been part of discussions with the vice president over his political future. Kaufman, who replaced Biden in the U.S. Senate on an interim basis after Biden was elected vice president, did not offer any further clues about his thinking or the final timeline for an announcement.

If he’s waited this long and hasn’t yet pulled the trigger, I can’t figure out what he’s waiting for. If he’s this on the fence about challenging Hillary, especially after her acceptable debate performance, I can’t see him actually taking the plunge. Still, these stories persist and fill my daily 2016 news feeds so I’m compelled to keep considering it.

If he’s waiting for Hillary Clinton to stumble, it hasn’t happened yet to the extent that she’s no longer the favorite for the Democratic nomination. Furthermore, as noted above, he’s up against deadlines for ballot inclusion in several primary states. If nothing has pushed him into the race up to this point, I’ll predict that he eventually decides to pass.


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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