WSJ.com - Joe Biden Is Leaning Toward a 2016 Run:
Politico.com - Potential Biden run divides Obama orbit:WSJ.com wrote:Vice President Joe Biden, who has long been considering a presidential bid, is increasingly leaning toward entering the race if it is still possible he can knit together a competitive campaign at this late date, people familiar with the matter said.
Mr. Biden still could opt to sit out the 2016 race, and he is weighing multiple political, financial and family considerations before making a final decision. But conversations about the possibility were a prominent feature of an August stay in South Carolina and his home in Delaware last week, these people said. A surprise weekend trip to Washington to meet with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), a darling of the party’s liberal wing, represented a pivot from potential to likely candidate, one Biden supporter said.
“The vice president has not made a decision about his political future,” Biden spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said. “Anyone speculating that he has made a decision is wrong.”
Mr. Biden would enter as a clear underdog. Polling shows Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton running far ahead of the vice president, who would be building a campaign team largely from scratch. Mrs. Clinton, who declared her candidacy four months ago, has a robust campaign operation and an outside super PAC raising money on her behalf.
Still, the vice president’s deliberations illustrate how, with just six months before the first presidential nominating contests, both major parties’ campaigns are in a state of flux. Democrats are increasingly insecure about Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy, given her dipping approval ratings and continuing questions about her use of a private email server while secretary of state. Republicans, meanwhile, are struggling to find the proper tone in reacting to Donald Trump, whose no-holds-barred campaign style is dominating coverage of the GOP contest and nudging top contenders into uncomfortable sound bites.
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For Democrats, Mr. Biden’s meeting with Ms. Warren fueled speculation that he is sounding out support he might receive among those at the party’s progressive base should he seek to challenge Mrs. Clinton. James Smith, a Democratic state representative from South Carolina, said a Biden alliance with Ms. Warren “would be a strong message to primary voters.”
Politico.com wrote:While many say they’ll stick by Clinton, several members of the Obama orbit acknowledge they’ve become hesitant to say positive things publicly about Clinton, worried that this could be interpreted as tipping Obama’s hand toward her or insulting Biden.
It’s not so much lingering animosity against Clinton from the 2008 campaign that’s dividing loyalties, but the intense affection so many of them have developed for Biden as part of Obama’s team, and the personal connection he’s formed with so many of them.
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Bring up Biden with many current and former Obama staffers, and conversation stops. They sigh. Pained looks appear on faces. They may try to change the topic. The conversation tends to go like this: “You think there’s an opening?” “Nah … but — maybe?”
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But a number of Obama veterans say confidently that there’d be a heavy dose of Obama alumni who’d show up for a Biden campaign.
