CHRIS WATTIE/REUTERS Before his death, Beau Biden (l.) urged his father Joe (r.) to run for President, saying that his values would make him a better leader than Hillary Clinton.
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The Wall Street Journal reported last month that John Cooper, a fundraiser for Barack Obama’s successful presidential runs, has joined the Draft Biden 2016 Super PAC to persuade Biden to run.
The people close to Biden spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to discuss the deliberations.
In her weekend column, which is front-loaded with criticism of the Clintons, Times columnist Maureen Dowd touches on the inspiration Beau reportedly gave to his father to run for the Oval Office.
Two recent Quinnipiac University polls show Clinton’s unfavorability rising in swing states.
One Democrat with direct knowledge of the conversations described the outreach as a heady combination of donors and friends of Biden’s wanting to prop up the vice president in his darkest hours, combined with recent polls showing Clinton’s support declining, suggesting there could be a path to the nomination for the vice president. Clinton obviously dominates polling among Democratic candidates, but her standing among independents and in general election what-ifs is weakening. She has amassed a large staff of seasoned operatives and raised almost $50 million for her campaign.
Beau Biden’s gubernatorial campaign was never launched because the vice president’s son was diagnosed with brain cancer.
Mr. Biden is known for his passionate, unscripted presence on the campaign trail, a trait that endeared him to voters but has also landed him in hot water for his inartful, at times offensive, comments.
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Biden has run for the presidency twice before – in 1988 and 2008, ultimately losing the Democratic nomination to Michael Dukakis and Obama, respectively. “Though CNN reports that some Biden loyalists have held out to see if the Vice President will enter the race, others have already declared their support for the former Secretary of State”. PPD has confirmed that early reports from FOX News claiming Biden has been testing the primary waters for weeks. Ricchetti and Susman are longtime acquaintances who have met periodically, and Susman denied it was related to any campaign preparation. (This old editor doesn’t think Dowd did a very good job of covering for her source, since she reported what the vice president thought to himself, but maybe that’s jumping to a conclusion.). 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.
