# Democratic Donors Urge Biden to Run. Should he? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 18, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714 "2015-09-18T22:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/81 "2015-10-13T13:13:25Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’ll venture a prediction: whatever Biden does this weekend, he’s not going to announce that he’s running. > > He _might_ announce that he’s not running, but I figure more likely he doesn’t feel the need to announce anything at all. Now that it’s after 9am Tuesday morning, I think we can say the weekend’s over, and no announcement. Looks like CNN’s [going with the same story, just with the ‘deadline’ moved back a few days](http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/12/politics/joe-biden-presidential-run/index.html): > [@](#): > > \*\*Washington (CNN) - \*\*Vice President Joe Biden, after spending an extended weekend in Delaware with his family, is poised to reveal soon whether he intends to jump into the 2016 presidential campaign. ‘Soon,’ huh? This is starting to feel like the ‘soon’ as in ‘the Bible says Jesus is coming back soon.’ > [@](#): > > He feels bound by no firm deadline, several Democrats close to him still say, yet he understands he may soon begin testing the party’s patience. ‘The party’ isn’t sitting by the phone, drumming its fingers, waiting for Biden to call. The only people whose patience is being tried are political reporters for whom a rather lively primary race between Hillary and Bernie just isn’t enough drama. And AFAIAC, they can go jump in a lake full of cowshit. > [@](#): > > A presidential candidacy was discussed throughout the weekend, including at a family dinner on Sunday night at the Biden home, but two people close to the vice president said 2016 campaign deliberations did not dominate the talks. Oh c’mon, silly reporters, there’s your tipoff right there. > [@](#): > > Georgia has the earliest deadline. By October 29, presidential hopefuls must send a letter declaring their candidacy to the state party, which passes forward a slate of candidates for the Super Tuesday primary on March 1. Several other states have deadlines in early November to qualify to be on the ballot, including Texas, Arkansas and New Hampshire. Well, there’s a blessing: in another month, either Biden will have declared his candidacy, or at least in every breathless story about whether he’s going to run, the media will have to mention all the states he’ll get no delegates from because he’s missed their filing deadlines. Eventually even they will have to stop treating the prospect so seriously. > [@](#): > > A mid-October announcement would be enough time for Biden to jump in, election lawyers say, but anything later in the month would make it difficult to put together the structure of a campaign organization. It’s mid-October. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/82 "2015-10-13T18:31:33Z")
[Daniel Drezner explains why he isn’t running.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/10/13/joe-biden-isnt-running-for-president/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_p1most) The key points: > [@](#): > > 1. The only political reason for a Biden candidacy was an imploding Hillary Clinton, and she’s not imploding. > … > 2. The media is beginning to tire of the Biden story. > … > 3. Biden. Can’t. Win. **adaher** , was this a solid enough prediction that we can add it to your formal record, or did you weasel-word it sufficiently? We can leave that call up to you. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/83 "2015-10-13T19:25:26Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > You think Clinton has a better chance of pulling off a win? If you really believed that, you wouldn’t urge Biden to stay out so as not to “hurt” Clinton, who obviously has to be NOT vetted during the primary process to survive it. > > At this point, Clinton is exactly the candidate we want to face. I think the difference is so minor and a GOP win so unlikely that i rather have the person more likely to get shit done than someone with a slightly higher chance of winning. I also don’t agree anyone has a better chance than Hillary, you are seeing her at her worst and comparing her to candidates who have not been the focus of attacks like she has. If Biden or Sander or anyone else actually managed to win the nomination and became targets they would not be faring anywhere as good as Hillary. They’d still win though, so at least there is that. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/84 "2015-10-13T22:16:48Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I think the difference is so minor and a GOP win so unlikely that i rather have the person more likely to get shit done than someone with a slightly higher chance of winning. I also don’t agree anyone has a better chance than Hillary, you are seeing her at her worst and comparing her to candidates who have not been the focus of attacks like she has. If Biden or Sander or anyone else actually managed to win the nomination and became targets they would not be faring anywhere as good as Hillary. They’d still win though, so at least there is that. Clinton would win. Biden would win. Sanders would not. And I say this as someone who really likes the guy – a lot. The Dems have a huge advantage over the GOP because they can field an experienced centrist candidate in either Clinton or Biden. Whereas Republicans have a bunch of lunatics and a Bush. As the saying goes, they got nuthin’. Putting in Sanders destroys that advantage because he’s so far off the mainstream – in a good way, but the American public won’t see it that way in the current political climate. Sanders would be the next George McGovern, who, IIRC, got 17 electoral college votes to Nixon’s 520. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/85 "2015-10-13T22:36:23Z")
Biden is coasting on sympathy and goofiness at the moment, his previous attempts went absolutely no where and he has done nothing in the past eight years to improve his appeal. As a real candidate he would be dead in the water. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/86 "2015-10-13T23:43:08Z")
And no potential candidate looks quite as good as he does at the moment everyone’s begging him to run, but he hasn’t jumped in yet. Wes Clark in the 2004 cycle, Ted Kennedy in 1980, hell, William Scranton on the GOP side in 1964. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/87 "2015-10-14T03:52:10Z")
After watching tonight’s debate I feel he missed his window of opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/88 "2015-10-14T13:34:51Z")
I don’t know if he ever really had one. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/89 "2015-10-14T14:00:57Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Washington (CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden, after spending an extended weekend in Delaware with his family, is poised to reveal soon whether he intends to jump into the 2016 presidential campaign. > > ‘Soon,’ huh? This is starting to feel like the ‘soon’ as in ‘the Bible says Jesus is coming back soon.’ If I had any artistic talent I’d whip up a cartoon of Hillary Clinton taking the oath of office while the pundits are _still_ yammering about the possibility that Joe Biden will jump into the race. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/90 "2015-10-14T14:04:52Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Now that is really stretching it, the reality is that Carson is not over the error range. > > And I also predicted that Carson was going to be the temporary new flavor for the Republicans. Of course, this is now a moot point as Trump is still ahead of Carson in the Republican side. This could turn into a variation on the last race where various not-Trump flavors of the month (like the not-Romney flavors of the month in 2012) rise and fall in turn. The difference is that the various not-Romneys actually led the polls. That won’t happen this time because, however much the GOP Establishment might try to deny it, Donald Trump is the perfect physical avatar of the shriveled heart, blackened soul, and warped mind of the modern Republican Party. > [@Simplicio](#): > > To the extent that noise about him running is coming from the man himself as opposed to a bored media, its just to get his name out there a little for a last ego-boost, and to up his brand a little before he leaves his current job and tries to find some sinecure at a thinktank or charity. I’m a bit less cynical – IMO Biden sees it as his duty to stand by as the “In Case Of Emergency Break Glass” candidate, and so he keeps the buzz alive for as long as possible to facilitate that if it becomes necessary. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/91 "2015-10-14T14:12:51Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > This could turn into a variation on the last race where various not-Trump flavors of the month (like the not-Romney flavors of the month in 2012) rise and fall in turn. > > The difference is that the various not-Romneys actually led the polls. That won’t happen this time Because this time there’s no Romney. There is no default “acceptable, electable, safe, sane” candidate to wait out the Crazies of the Month. Unless you think it’s Trump, in which case one must weep for humanity. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/92 "2015-10-14T14:49:01Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > If I had any artistic talent I’d whip up a cartoon of Hillary Clinton taking the oath of office while the pundits are _still_ yammering about the possibility that Joe Biden will jump into the race. I think the ‘Biden’s about to decide something’ narrative won’t even interest its MSM proponents very much, now that they’ve collectively decided Hillary’s campaign is doing fine after all, despite their recent efforts to take her down. So I think we’ll see a pretty abrupt drop, starting today, in the number of stories about whether Biden will run. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/93 "2015-10-14T14:52:20Z")
I think that’s pretty much it. I love Biden, but Hillary did well enough last night to convince me that she’s ready to beat the snot out of whichever stooge gets the Republican nomination. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/94 "2015-10-16T18:55:54Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think that’s pretty much it. I love Biden, but Hillary did well enough last night to convince me that she’s ready to beat the snot out of whichever stooge gets the Republican nomination. Now mind you I never thought that Biden would have any chance of winning the nomination if he entered no matter when he entered, and never perceived Hillary’s campaign as being in any trouble whatsoever … but if he was ever going to enter the time was last week-end and being part of the debate. Now that the media narrative is that Hillary with her strong performance in the debate has re-grouped, demonstrated her chops, whatever, an entry by him will be spun completely differently, more self-serving of his ego than trying to help a party whose presumptive nominee was (in the media narrative) looking vulnerable. He may still do it though. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/95 "2015-10-16T19:35:41Z")
I agree - Biden’s tide has passed. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/96 "2015-10-16T19:48:32Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I think the ‘Biden’s about to decide something’ narrative won’t even interest its MSM proponents very much, now that they’ve collectively decided Hillary’s campaign is doing fine after all, despite their recent efforts to take her down. There was no “effort” to bring down Hillary, and there was no “decision” that she’s now fine. The mainstream media doesn’t work that way. They just need stories to tell (constantly), and they’ll tell whatever stories seem to be out there. There’s no _intention_. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/97 "2015-10-16T20:19:16Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > There was no “effort” to bring down Hillary Except by the New York Times, maybe. > [@](#): > > and there was no “decision” that she’s now fine. Not a decision, but a general understanding. It was inescapable given the Benghazi Committee stuff that can’t be spun any other way, and the lack of any gaffes by her at the debate. > [@](#): > > The mainstream media doesn’t work that way. They just need stories to tell (constantly), and they’ll tell whatever stories seem to be out there. There’s no _intention_. You might add that when there don’t seem to be any stories “out there”, they’ll substitute speculation and anonymous “sources” and generate their own. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/98 "2015-10-16T22:03:58Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > There was no “effort” to bring down Hillary, and there was no “decision” that she’s now fine. The mainstream media doesn’t work that way. They just need stories to tell (constantly), and they’ll tell whatever stories seem to be out there. There’s no _intention_. The intention is to sell advertising. The means is to create a storyline. “Nothing new to see here.” is a boring story. So the “effort” is to create a narrative, to create some drama, to magnify anything that looks like it might create some drama. And the media does not only seek to create the drama in the spin of how they report, they hope that how they report influences the reality that they do report to make reality more exciting. There needs to be _change_ to keep people clicking and tuning in, ups, downs, ups again, twists, scandals, horse race numbers to report. And the mainstream media reads each other and riff together a consistent changing storyline to follow. “She walks another one. She seems to be tired and unfocused. Will they pull her? Biden in the bullpen warming up. Hold on, maybe he is just asking Sanders for some chaw. Wait, an easy pop fly! Out! This could be a no-hitter in the making folks! Be back for the forth batter in the first after these words from our sponsors!” ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/99 "2015-10-19T19:54:16Z")
According to reports citing sources close to Biden he is set to announce he is running for the Democratic nomination. Announcement could come at an event this weekend. [Yahoo News](https://www.yahoo.com/tv/s/joe-biden-enter-presidential-race-fox-news-reports-185031529.html) [The Hill](http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/257312-pennsylvania-dem-joe-is-in) [NY Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/biden-announce-presidential-run-decision-report-article-1.2402624) says to look for a decision by Wednesday whether he will attend the event on Saturday that could be a forum for an announcement. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714/100 "2015-10-19T20:03:05Z")
“Sources”. He’s in when \*he \*says he’s in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-donors-urge-biden-to-run-should-he/731714.md?page=6)