The possibility that Vice President Biden may jump into the 2016 presidential campaign is convulsing the network of wealthy Democrats that financed President Obama’s two White House bids, galvanizing fundraisers underwhelmed by Hillary Rodham Clinton’s performance.
A wide swath of party financiers is already convinced that Biden will make a late entry into the race and a sizeable number are now contemplating backing him, including some who have already signed on with Clinton, according to more than a dozen top Democratic fundraisers around the country.
Their potential support — driven in part by a desire to recapture the passion they felt in Obama’s campaigns — could play a key role in helping the vice president decide whether to move forward on a third White House run.
Clinton’s war chest would obviously be a great obstacle to the late entry of Vice President Biden into the race, but there is also obviously great affection for Biden among the Obama donor class. They don’t feel that lovin’ feeling with Hillary and are looking to put their cash behind someone who recreates some modicum of the Obama energy. Clinton has an incredible networked of cronies monied friends and loyalists, but surprisingly few of Obama’s bundlers are among them. This seems like a very promising stat for Biden or anyone else who could get Obama’s blessing:
Many of them are still up for grabs. Of the 770 fundraisers who bundled checks for Obama’s 2012 reelection, just 52 have signed on so far as a “Hillblazer” bundler for Clinton or have hosted a fundraiser for her, according to a Washington Post analysis.
Top Democratic money players — many of whom requested anonymity to describe private conversations — said discussions among senior Obama fundraisers about Biden’s possible bid have taken a serious turn in the past few days.
Washington (CNN)Vice President Joe Biden received President Barack Obama’s “blessing” to make a 2016 bid for the White House, according to a senior Democrat.
But that’s if Biden chooses to run — the decision is his. While he doesn’t need the President’s permission, of course, a potential presidential candidacy was among the topics of their lunch Monday at the White House. The President made clear he would not stand in his way or counsel him against a run, the senior Democrat said.
Biden huddled with two close Obama cronies advisers Monday—Anita Dunn and Bob Bauer—after having sat down with Sen. Elizabeth Warren over the weekend to ask her to be the spark to his dynamite so they can blow the roof off this race. Or, that’s how I imagine that going down.
And, Biden is said to be evaluating his own spark. Can he have the fire in the belly necessary to run for president at an advanced age and on the heels of a family tragedy?
“We’re dealing at home with … whether or not there is the emotional fuel at this time to run,” Biden told DNC members on a conference call that was billed as an opportunity to hear from the vice president on the Iran nuclear deal. “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.”
Exit question: Do you want to run against Hillary or Joe?
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