Speculation over a possible presidential bid by Vice President Joseph R. Biden kicked into high gear Monday after he met over the weekend with Democratic kingmaker Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and the White House seemed to give him a public nudge of sorts, saying he’s ready for the top job.
Mr. Biden, who has mounted two previous bids, is getting closer to a third run, as he’s watched Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign stumble, according to multiple news reports which also detected a softening of support among Mrs. Clinton’s own backers.
Stoking the speculation, the vice president tapped a new communications director, Kate Bedingfield, who served on the 2008 campaign of former Sen. John Edwards.
“Kate is a talented individual who brings a range of communications experience to the team,” Mr. Biden said in a statement announcing her hire.
The White House faced a barrage of questions about Mr. Biden’s plans, and press secretary Josh Earnest gave the president’s top deputy a glowing recommendation.
“The president has indicated his view that the decision that he made, I guess, seven years ago to add Joe Biden to the ticket as his running mate was the smartest decision that he had ever made in politics, and I think that should give you some sense of the president’s view of Vice President Biden’s aptitude for the top job,” Mr. Earnest said.
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Mr. Earnest also offered some consolation remarks for Mrs. Clinton, saying the president has had “warm” words for her, too. But he pivoted quickly to praising Mr. Biden, saying he’s already been on a successful presidential ticket twice, in 2008 and 2012.
The nudge was all the press needed. CNN reported that Mr. Obama gave his “blessing” to Mr. Biden to run when the two had lunch on Monday, and several outlets said the vice president is now leaning toward jumping in the race.
CBS reported that one Democratic donor was prepared to abandon Mrs. Clinton in favor of the vice president.
Mr. Biden helped fuel speculation when he met Saturday with Ms. Warren. California Gov. Jerry Brown said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he expects Mr. Biden is giving the race “very serious consideration,” and Josh Alcorn, who is working with a group known as Draft Biden 2016, told “Fox News Sunday” they already have a list of grass-roots supporters they can tap should the vice president run.
A Quinnipiac University Poll last week of swing states Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania found Democratic voters still prefer Mrs. Clinton, but Mr. Biden performs as well or better than she does against Republicans in a general election match-up.
“Vice President Joseph Biden, who is spending his time in seclusion, contemplating whether to take on Secretary Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries for president, has some new information to consider,” said Peter A. Brown, the poll’s assistant director.
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Mr. Biden probably has a little more than a month to make a final decision and announce his intention. The first cattle call of Democrats is Oct. 13, with the initial party-sanctioned debate scheduled to take place in Nevada.
At the White House, Mr. Earnest said he didn’t rule out the possibility of the president making an endorsement in the race, and would definitely be picking sides privately, since he plans to vote in the Illinois primary.
Mrs. Clinton’s slide in stature over the past few months has been stark. Hounded by questions over her controversial email practices as secretary of state, voters increasingly rate her untrustworthy and wonder whether she broke the law in mishandling classified information. Under pressure, she turned her email server and several flash drives over to the Justice Department earlier this month.
But Mr. Earnest said it’s too early for Democrats to fret over Mrs. Clinton’s campaign.
“There are dangers with assuming the outcome of the race 15 months in advance,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. “It’s rather early in the process.”
Mr. Obama defeated Mrs. Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, then hired her as his top diplomat the next year. The president met up last week with Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, when they were all vacationing at the same time on Martha’s Vineyard.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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