Vice President Biden mulling run for 2016 presidency

According to the Times, Biden has yet to make up his mind, and he could still decide not to run.

The conversation took place after the 46-year-old Beau found out he wasn’t going to make it and asked his father if he had time for a chat, according to Dowd.

Biden has said publicly he would make a decision at the end of the summer but the Times said the vice president and his associates were actively exploring getting in the race.

Sources close to the vice president or his aides have reportedly said talk of a 2016 run is intensifying in the Biden camp. In other words, unless some knight in shining armor jumps into the race, Mr. Biden is the only individual who can effectively challenge Mrs. Clinton. “Any speculation about the views of the vice president or his family about his political future is premature and inappropriate”. He has had little interaction with a “draft Biden” group pushing him to run, and has yet to look for office space in early voting states or raise money for a potential bid.

Biden’s son, Beau, died of brain cancer in May. Momentum for a Biden run hasn’t slowed, organizers say, as Clinton begins laying out policy positions in early voting states.

The Republican attack machine, led by Fox News, has scuffed up Clinton among independents. Sen. Ricchetti and Susman are longtime acquaintances who have met periodically, and Susman denied it was related to any campaign preparation. But Biden is also one of the most vocal defenders of President Barack Obama’s policies, and has a legion of powerful friends and allies in the Democratic Party, relationships forged during his almost four decades in the U.S. Senate, where he headed both the Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees.

Yet the silence from Biden hasn’t sapped the hope from all of his supporters, even though they recognize his focus is elsewhere. “In recent weeks, the vice president has worked on the nuclear deal with Iran, traveled across the country to highlight the administration’s economic priorities and more“.

Biden’s first campaign in 1988 ended in heartbreak after news reports that he plagiarized parts of a speech and exaggerated his academic record forced him to drop out. A fundraiser is planned in Los Angeles next weekend at the home of Dr. Howard Mandel, a prominent Democratic donor.

In a too-close-to-call race, 41 percent of those surveyed chose Clinton compared to 42 percent for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

“Yeah, I am! I just forgot to tell you”, Biden joked.