Biden Close To Announcing White House Bid, Aides Say

http://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-edges-closer-to-joining-presidential-race-1442617215

Vice President Joe Biden’s aides in recent days called Democratic donors and supporters to suggest he is more likely than not to enter the 2016 race, and their discussions have shifted toward the timing of an announcement, said people familiar with the matter.

While the Biden team is still debating the best time to jump in, the vice president met Monday with his political advisers and talked about the merits of an early entry that would assure him a place in the Democratic debate scheduled for Oct. 13. They also are honing his campaign message and moving ahead with plans to raise money and hire staff, the people said.

“It’s my sense that this is happening, unless they change their minds,” said one person who spoke to Biden aides last weekend.

Mr. Biden’s entry would coincide with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s ramped-up efforts to reassure her backers that the probes into her use of a personal email server while she was secretary of state won’t derail her candidacy. That controversy has produced a month of bad headlines for Mrs. Clinton and helped boost her chief rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, in the polls. A Biden bid could make her road to the Democratic nomination even tougher.

The Democratic debate next month is one of two important events in October that are on the minds of Mr. Biden’s top advisers as they consider a campaign start date. Democratic National Committee leaders have scheduled only four debates before the Iowa caucuses set for Feb. 1. Delaying a presidential announcement would mean passing on a chance to appear before a national TV audience and make the case that he would be a better nominee than Mrs. Clinton. Yet as a sitting vice president, Mr. Biden already has a platform that keeps him in the public eye. Mrs. Clinton has declined to speculate about a Biden challenge. “I’m certainly not going to comment on my good friend and former colleague,” she said Thursday on CNN. “He has to make up his own mind about what’s best for him and his family as he wrestles with this choice.” Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Sen. Sanders, said, “If the vice president decides to enter the race, Bernie looks forward to a serious discussion of the issues.”

I recall a saying. Society is like a cesspool. The sludge sinks to the bottom and the scum rises to the top.