Joe Biden Not Sure He Has The "Emotional Fuel" For A 2016 Bid

[Purveyor]

Source: CBS NEWS

Aug 26, 2015 7:52 PM EDT

Amid rising speculation that he plans to jump into the 2016 presidential race, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he's not sure he has the "emotional fuel" for another political campaign.

During a conference call with Democratic National Committee members convened to discuss the nuclear deal with Iran, the vice president nodded at the impact his son Beau's recent death has had on questions about his political future. A CNN correspondent who first reported the news was dialed into the call, and a person who was on the call confirmed Biden's remarks to CBS News.

"We're dealing at home with ... whether or not there is the emotional fuel at this time to run," Biden acknowledged. "If I were to announce to run, I have to be able to commit to all of you that I would be able to give it my whole heart and my whole soul, and right now, both are pretty well banged up."

Despite the family tragedy, the chatter about the vice president's potential bid has taken on a more substantive quality of late, as Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton faces continued scrutiny over her use of a private email server as secretary of state.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-joe-biden-not-sure-emotional-fuel-for-a-2016-election-bid/

[elleng]

1. Awful situation for him.

Sounds to me that we have the answer.

[redwitch]

12. I think so too.

My heart hurts for him. I think he is a lovely man and I am so sorry he lost his son.

[AnAzulTexas]

28. yup

no parent should have to bury their child. I can't blame him if he opts out, but his absence in politics will be a loss for us all

[SoapBox]

2. Sorry Joe, about all the family issues...

But your time has passed.

Bernie is the only candidate the can bring us real change.

[Metric System]

4. So heartfelt...

[SoapBox]

7. He has had more than his share of tragedy.

Do I need to detail it for you?

[Metric System]

21. I was referring to the second half of your comments.

[Metric System]

3. His heart doesn't seem in it and I don't blame him given the rough year he has had.

[Cosmocat]

35. I have posted that 100 times here since this has popped up

his ego, or whatever you want to call it, clearly would have him run.

But, his heart just is not in it.

I like Joe a lot, but I don't want him mucking things up for either Hill or Bernie, either way, because they both are in this to win, 101 percent.

[TBF]

5. Not my first choice for president,

but on a personal level my heart hurts for him. As a mother myself I can't imagine losing a child.

[rury]

9. No one who has thrown their hat

into the 2016 ring at this point is my first choice for president.

[TBF]

34. Well if I had my way we'd be replacing

capitalism with socialism immediately and not dealing with Donald the fascist, but that is sort of off-topic.

[retrowire]

6. Just take it easy Biden. No pressure. n/t

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. Then he should sit it out.

I can certainly understand why he would be hesitant.

[Auggie]

10. I hope he can contibute to the Dems campaign

[NRaleighLiberal]

11. If he is not sure, then he doesn't. If he changes his mind, even that statement would haunt him.

It is not an office for anyone that is not utterly committed (and it is not an office for those who should be committed, like the entire menagerie of the right wing clown car).

[question everything]

13. On Chris Matthews, Howard Fineman commented

that Biden was behind the law that incarcerates many blacks. I am not sure whether he is behind abolishing it or behind the current status.

[cannabis_flower]

15. He was one of the main person behind...

getting those laws passed back in the mid-to-late 80s and 90s. He helped to pass mandatory minimum sentences and the RAVE act. I would have to know that he had changed his position and vows to help change things and also supports at least the right of states to pass their own medical and recreational marijuana laws. Otherwise he isn't even as good as Hillary (or Ted Cruz for that matter - but of course other issues keep me away from that side) and absolutely not as good as Bernie on this issue.

[question everything]

18. Thanks. No doubt, he changed his attitude

but enough people would raise this issue, just like the old plagiarism.

[cannabis_flower]

20. I've heard..

that he regrets some but not all. I was against all of these laws from the start.

Read the excerpt below:

During a discussion of Joe Biden’s possible presidential run on CNN the anchor mentioned his “popularity with young people.” Why on earth should this drug war dinosaur be popular with youth? Or with any Democrat?

Quite probably, few know anything about Joe Biden’s huge role in America’s drug war quagmire. He has been perhaps the most active and effective drug war advocate for decades, and has done much damage to democracy. Working and voting closely with the most authoritarian republicans, he played a central role in crafting a dozen draconian laws across the years. Asset forfeitures, mandatory minimums, “conspiracy” prosecutions have since filled newly-built American prisons. In great part due to Joe Biden’s votes and actions, the USA went from land of the free to being the world’s incarceration nation.

From ( http://marijuanapolitics.com/joe-biden-drug-war-president-2016-marijuana-reform-could-take-a-step-back/ )

[cannabis_flower]

14. Good! eom

[Old Crow]

16. Ow. You can feel a lot of pain in that one quote. My heart goes out to him. (N/T)

[thebighobgoblin]

17. Joe speaks from the heart

and I think his heart's just not in it. I think he knows that under ordinary circumstances things might be different but he just buried his beloved son and his family needs him. And there's nothing that really indicates he'd be successful other than the current anxiety over Hillary Clinton's email servers, which I think (hope) will be resolved in time.

[jeff47]

19. You know, this is one of those things where if you feel you have to ask that question

then the answer is "no".

[libodem]

22. No Doubt

One guy has an honest message to disagree with, (and how can you do that?) and some others will eat his lunch and drink his milkshake. And I'm talking about the primaries.

[SteveG]

23. don't do it Joe,

I lost my eldest son in '98 to leukemia. He was a wonderful young man of not quite 26. It took me many years to process that. Don't do it. You need a few years to process losing your eldest.

[NCjack]

24. I hope he reserves himself for his primary purpose as V.P. -- if Pres. Obama

is unable to finish his term, then V.P. Biden needs to be ready to fill the office. There is too much riding on the completion of the Obama-Biden Administration.

[Aerows]

25. Joe Biden is a great person.

He's had a lot of hardship.

The fact that this trial balloon of him running for President is being sent up, however, means there are doubts about Hillary Clinton.

It's a bad omen all the way around.

[Volaris]

30. It also means the DNC will do everything in their power to marginalize and ignore

The fact that Sen Sanders is the numbers-on popular alternative to The Clinton Coronation Machine.

[DrBulldog]

26. 2016 will be no place for Mr. Nice Guy

First, you'll lose and lose badly. So what in gawd's name is the point?

Second, you'll just get in Bernie's way. He's already battling the cowardly MSM, and that's tough enough.

And thirdly, you're just political milk toast compared to Bernie. Who needs yet another candidate financed by the rich? Stay home and love your wife, Joe. She deserves it.

[DrBulldog]

27. Wanna really help your country, Joe, before you retire?

Endorse Bernie - and do it NOW.

[Volaris]

31. Would that he could...standard procedure is that

Anyone inside a sitting administration generally doesn't take sides in a primary fight, but will campaign like hell for the party nominee. In this regard, it will be No-Drama Obama, you can bet your ass.
The administration will say nothing until the General rolls around. If it's not Sanders, it will be fiery milquetoast all the way, just enough red meat to remind everyone how crazy the GOP is.
If it IS Bernie, I suspect a lot of endorsment/stump speeches about how liberalism isn't really scary and I didn't WANT to bail out the banks, and well OF COURSE we should have a 'discussion' about money in politics...In other words, a lot of not being sure if the electorate can actually be trusted with self governing.

As an aside, I live in Missouri, and my sense of this cycle is as follows: McCaskill, (to her credit) played ball on the Iran Deal. Which means she won't be getting re-elected, no matter where she finally comes down on TPP or Keystone (my bet being at the end of the day, she'll be for them, and want us to consider it a fair price paid for getting her vote on Iran...I don't BTW)
It's a status quo that's so predictable as to be boring.
Go, Bernie, Go.

[KMOD]

29. I really wish the media would stop pestering him

I know it makes for a good story...

but again it's a deeply personal decision, and VP Biden has a lot on his plate right now.

[RandySF]

32. Joe Biden for SCOTUS

[JudyM]

36. If only one of the *Right* ones would leave the picture... Nt

[Gloria]

33. From the start of all this, the Draft Biden people were told

that they really shouldn't do the "draft" thing...this from the Biden camp itself.

Hearing that he doubts his "emotional fuel" tells me he won't run...if he had fire in the belly, he wouldn't be musing about this in public.