Joe Biden Reportedly Moving Closer to Presidential Run

Vice President Joe Biden is moving closer to jumping into the 2016 presidential race if he can put together a good campaign at this stage in the election cycle, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing individuals familiar with the issue.

Vice President Joe Biden speaks on August 15, 2015, at a memorial service to honor those killed in the Chattanooga shooting. (Jason Davis/Getty Images)

More from the Journal:

Mr. Biden still could opt to sit out the 2016 race, and he is weighing multiple political, financial and family considerations before making a final decision. But conversations about the possibility were a prominent feature of an August stay in South Carolina and his home in Delaware last week, these people said. A surprise weekend trip to Washington to meet with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), a darling of the party’s liberal wing, represented a pivot from potential to likely candidate, one Biden supporter said.

“The vice president has not made a decision about his political future,” Biden spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said. “Anyone speculating that he has made a decision is wrong.”

Mr. Biden would enter as a clear underdog. Polling shows Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton running far ahead of the vice president, who would be building a campaign team largely from scratch. Mrs. Clinton, who declared her candidacy four months ago, has a robust campaign operation and an outside super PAC raising money on her behalf.

Still, the vice president’s deliberations illustrate how, with just six months before the first presidential nominating contests, both major parties’ campaigns are in a state of flux. Democrats are increasingly insecure about Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy, given her dipping approval ratings and continuing questions about her use of a private email server while secretary of state. Republicans, meanwhile, are struggling to find the proper tone in reacting to Donald Trump, whose no-holds-barred campaign style is dominating coverage of the GOP contest and nudging top contenders into uncomfortable sound bites.

“Donald Trump is shaping the contours of the race,” GOP strategist Kevin Madden told the Journal. “He’s controlling the tempo of this race and the other campaigns can’t cede that power to him.”

In the Democratic race, the reported meeting between Biden and Warren was a signal to many that the vice president is feeling out possible support from the party's progressive wing. James Smith, a South Carolina Democratic state representative, told the Journal that a Biden-Warren alliance “would be a strong message to primary voters.”

California Gov. Jerry Brown told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that if he were Clinton, "I would say [to Biden], 'Don't jump in.'"

But Brown added that if he were Biden, "I'd probably give [a presidential run] very serious consideration."

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