Yeah, He Made the Right Decision
According to Margaret Hartmann of the Daily Intelligencer, Vice President Biden did not make up his mind until the last moment.
Politico reports that finally, advisers who wanted him to run said he needed to give an answer before Thursday, when Hillary Clinton will testify before the House Select Committee on Benghazi. They felt that if Biden waited, it would look like he was waiting to evaluate Clinton’s performance, and hurt both of them. […]
Biden greatly admires Clyburn, and his pseudo campaign got a boost when the congressman from South Carolina (a crucial early primary state for Biden) said a month ago that he was open to seeing Biden in the race. But on Monday, the congressman suddenly said “I would not advise him to get in” during a Huffington Post interview. The two men’s staffers began trying to figure out what had changed, and Biden was reportedly deeply discouraged by Clyburn’s change of heart. […]
Even on Wednesday morning, President Obama didn’t know which way Biden was leaning. With advisers pushing Biden to make an announcement, he said on Tuesday night that he needed to sleep on it. The next morning he went to the Oval Office and told President Obama he’d decided not to run. According to the AP, they talked for about 30 minutes, and Obama told Biden he wanted to be by his side during his address in the Rose Garden. The event was thrown together so hastily that Biden staffers had to dash over to the White House to watch the speech, and several people who had been strategizing with Biden for months learned that he’d made a decision from news reports.
I am not sure I believe all that. But if all of the above is true, yeah, he made the right decision. To run for the Presidency of the United States is not something you are unsure about. It is not something you sleep on. You either believe it is your God-given destiny to run and be President. Or you don’t. And if you don’t, then you are not going to convince anyone else to vote for you.
Regardless of what it would do for the nation, Biden does not need the presidency. I don’t think you can take public service out of the man entirely, but he’s earned his down-time if that’s what he chooses to do after January 2017.
This was the right call.
Already saw speculation in some outlets that he’d be on the short list of Secretary of State in a Clinton administration. Not unreasonable if he still wants to be in the game. He doesn’t seem like the “retire to the countryside” type.
Not good for SecState. He can’t recognize an enemy when he sees one.
Care to elaborate?
I really want Joe to run for Governor. Keep the Carneys and the Gordons away for 8 years while people like Townsend gain experience.
@JimC – Funny joke, but Biden is probably the most qualifier person for Secretary of State that there is. And I’m not a typical Delaware Biden sycophant.
As far as Governor, it would make a really cool story for the history books. The grand statesman returns for a term or two in Dover. Sort of like WH Taft going from POTUS to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Unfortunately this is the 21st century. I don’t think those moves happen anymore.