Biden for president? Allies mulling Clinton challenge

[webfact]

Biden for president? Allies mulling Clinton challenge
By JULIE PACE and JOSH LEDERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden's associates have resumed discussions about a 2016 presidential run after largely shelving such deliberations while his son was sick and dying earlier this year. But Biden has yet to tell his staff whether he will run or personally ask them to do any planning for a potential campaign, according to several people close to the vice president.

Recent conversations between Biden's associates and Democratic donors and operatives have led to speculation that Biden will challenge front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton for the party's nomination, and individuals close to Biden have started looking into the options that might be available to him if he were to run, such as potential staff in Iowa and the filing deadlines for entering the Democratic field.

But the people close to the vice president say his launching a White House run remains uncertain. Biden is expected to make a final decision as soon as early September, according to those familiar with his plans.

The people close to Biden spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deliberations publicly.

The renewed focus on Biden comes amid some signs of weakness for Clinton, including declines in her favorability ratings among voters in recent polling. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is challenging Clinton for the Democratic nomination, has been attracting large crowds with his liberal economic message, evidence of a hunger within the party for an alternative to Clinton's candidacy.

Biden's entry could reshape the dynamics of the Democratic primary, giving the party another option that might appeal to a wide swath of voters. Yet Clinton remains enormously popular among Democrats. She has amassed a large staff of seasoned operatives and raised nearly $50 million for her campaign.

There are few signs, meanwhile, that Biden is taking solid steps toward launching a campaign. 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.

Kendra Barkoff, the vice president's press secretary, said Biden was spending his time working on President Barack Obama's agenda, not on planning his own potential presidential campaign.

"As the Biden family continues to go through this difficult time, the vice president is focused on his family and immersed in his work," Barkoff said.

Biden's son, Beau, died of brain cancer in May. The younger Biden's death prompted an outpouring of support for the vice president, who also lost a daughter and his first wife in a car accident in 1972.

Since Beau Biden's death, his father has surrounded himself with longtime confidants and former aides for comfort and emotional support. But these allies also were involved with Biden's two previous presidential campaigns. Former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, who has advised Biden for most of his political career, and Mike Donilon, a friend and longtime political aide, have both been given offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building steps from the vice president's West Wing office.

In recent weeks, a bevy of longtime donors, supporters and former staffers have reached out to the vice president and his staff to offer their condolences, as well as to say they'd be on board if he chooses to run.

The intense speculation around a potential Biden run grew even louder this past week when Fox News reported that Biden chief of staff Steve Ricchetti had met for breakfast with Louis Susman, a prominent Democratic donor and former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. But individuals familiar with the meeting said Susman and Ricchetti are longtime friends and that Susman initiated the meeting.

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd also reported Saturday that Beau Biden had, before his death, urged his father to run.

Biden, who is 72, would be the oldest president ever elected to a first term if he ran for the White House and won. He would bring to the race 36 years of experience in the Senate as well as a breadth of foreign and domestic policy experience from his years as vice president and two previous presidential campaigns. He's been a key negotiator for Obama during fiscal fights on Capitol Hill and also the point person for administration policy in Ukraine and Iraq.

However, Biden's freewheeling, undisciplined style has caused headaches for the White House and has long been a concern for Democrats as he's weighed the prospect of running in 2016.
___

Lederman reported from New York. Associated Press writer Lisa Lerer contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-08-03

[Jingthing]

It would be good for Clinton to have a serious challenger. They're both good women.

[khwaibah]

Anyone watching the GOP debate our time tomorrow morning Aug 4 at 6 am /

August 3, 2015

"Voters First" Republican Forum
7pm ET - (2 hours)
Aired On: C-SPAN (Live Stream)
Location: St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH
Moderator(s): Jack Heath
Rules: Candidates appear separately answering questions
Candidates: Bush, Rubio, Cruz, Graham, Paul, Perry, Christie, Fiorina, Kasich, Walker, Santorum, Pataki, Jindal, Carson (Trump, Huckabee declined invitation)
Read more at http://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2016-debate-schedule/2016-republican-primary-debate-schedule/#PsUlLOjPFvOr7fIu.99

[Jingthing]

It will be repeated about 100 times on Fox "News" so don't you worry.

[elgordo38]

Biden for president and Donald Trump as his running mate. Gruesome twosome

[lap82]

These elections will surely be the weirdest one of the history.

[Jingthing]

These elections will surely be the weirdest one of the history.

Bush vs. Clinton?

More boring than weird.

[Chao Lao Beach]

Koch Bros vrs Clinton you mean

[bendejo]

The Dems are hedging their bets in case Hillary gets taken down. If that happens they are going to need a replacement right quick.

Are Americans ready to vote for a man with blue teeth?

[Jingthing]

Biden's probably not running.

[SheungWan]

Hilary seems somewhat becalmed. Send in the clown!

[Publicus]

This is an emotional time for Joe Biden and his family, his lifetime friends, his career vested political confidantes and supporters, so let's hope Joe makes the rational decision.

Biden had to delay serious consideration to running and the final decision either way until after the tragic expected death of his son Beau. So this is the time to focus on it.

A close friend of the late son Beau just went over to the Draft Biden committee and its small organization, so that might well be the outcome of all of this but that is just one possibility. Biden has had a great career in public service so it would be a shame to end it as an also ran.

Biden's house of donors were among the first Mrs. Clinton's high powered finance team wrung clean out so Joe will be hard pressed to raise the money he'd need to be an active and competitive candidate. Hence the far less costly Draft committee as the Democratic party's backup in the nomination contest.

The money btw still says the next president will be either Mrs. Clinton, or Bernie Sanders, or Martin O'Malley, or Joe Biden, so the D party nomination is the 800 pound gorilla of this general election contest. The Republicans in the race are recognizable as only of mice and men.

[spidermike007]

Is it just me, or did Biden seem like a weak VP? I understand the dynamics involved. And I realize Obama was probably too insecure to give him a lot of room to stand out, or develop a real agenda. Two VP's that really stand out from recent memory were Al Gore and Lyndon Johnson. Mondale was also effective with Carter. He did influence policy. It feels as if Biden is far less dynamic that many of us hoped he would be. Would he make a good president? I kind of doubt it. The party is getting desperate.

[Jingthing]

He's been more of a classical role VP. Not weak. Just playing the traditional role as the supporter of the president. He's also mostly not been considered the likely next in line. Cheney was definitely not going to run. Someone like Gore it was assumed would run. So if Biden announces it will be a little off script.

[Rancid]

Well he makes Hilary look appealling, and that aint easy with her financial baggage.

[Publicus]

Biden ran for prez twice but didn't impress anyone. He's now 72 and after 30+ years in the Senate and eight years as veep he still hasn't impressed anyone.

It seems everyone is instead wishing him a happy retirement starting in January 2017, Hillary Clinton first and foremost as the Joe has always considered himself an heir to John F. Kennedy's Camelot legacy and from their start assigned the Clintons to Dogpatch.

I really don't doubt BHObama relies on Biden for his 40 years experience in Washington although Joe took the train home to Delaware each evening which is awfully self-limiting in a town where politics and power is everything 24/7.

I've considered Biden a B League Senator at best and probably a C League one since his time as chairman of the Judiciary Committee that conducted the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings fiasco that not only allowed Thomas to get on SCOTUS but which actually voted to send him there.

Joe gets in this race and he becomes almost everyone's skunk at the D lawn party.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Publicus

[sdanielmcev]

As I've been saying for some time now, the dems biggest problem is having only Clinton. Clinton has too much baggage, she is being investigated by Congress, and now she and her coterie are being investigated by the FBI. The dems put (some say coerced by the Clintons) all their eggs into one basket, now that basket is going up in flames. If what I hear is correct, Biden doesn't want to run, but the dems have no one else because Clinton sat like a big fat fart over the party.

[Publicus]

As I've been saying for some time now, the dems biggest problem is having only Clinton. Clinton has too much baggage, she is being investigated by Congress, and now she and her coterie are being investigated by the FBI. The dems put (some say coerced by the Clintons) all their eggs into one basket, now that basket is going up in flames. If what I hear is correct, Biden doesn't want to run, but the dems have no one else because Clinton sat like a big fat fart over the party.

Mrs. Clinton is not the subject of the FBI inquiry. Mrs. Clinton is not a subject of the FBI inquiry.

No person is being investigated by the FBI in relation to Mrs. Clinton's emails while SecState. No person is being examined, to include one or more persons of "her coterie."

The inquiry is of the private server system and not of any one single person or of any person at all. The inquiry is of a system, not a person.

Stated additionally and materially, the FBI has no "target" in this investigation, if it is an investigation. A central part of an FBI "investigation" is that there be a "target," meaning a person. There is no target in this FBI inquiry and no person is being reviewed.

Moreover, documents or papers presently classified but not classified at the time Mrs. Clinton was SecState present no criminal or illegal activity at the time or going forward.

So again, if Joe Biden runs he'll be the skunk at the D lawn party and Biden knows it.

And one more time, if the choice on election day November 2016 is between Clinton and Bush, voters will choose Clinton. A third Bush will only get clipped. The money continues to be on former SecState Hillary Clinton. Decidedly so in fact.

[Old Croc]

And the rest of the world holds it's breath as the Americans decide who will next hold the most important job in the world.

Will it be whichever close minded, war mongering, bigot tumbles out of the clown car, or a passed use by date, pensioner from the other side of politics?

[Publicus]

We never expected the Old World to understand the new one so sometimes it gets really bumpy in both places.

It's a tough slog without letup but in terms of history the Old World is rapidly being whipped in to shape. In one century European imperial monarchy was obliterated, fascism was eviscerated, Marxism-Leninism was disposed of and we've only just begun to roll up our sleeves. Now petrified Russia, ancient China, moribund Persia think they and their primitive notions are the current hot item stuff.

For Joe Biden it was pretty much a matter of being there. For others such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton history is theirs to make so fasten the seat belts.

We all come out of the past so it is impossible to expect the processes and experiences to be smooth and even. Some people think the past, others think the future while too many don't think at all.