Report: Joe Biden to mourn son Beau, mull 2016 at family retreat
As speculation mounts over whether Vice President Joe Biden will jump into the 2016 presidential race, Biden will go on a retreat with his family later this month to mourn his late son Beau and weigh his political future, the New York Times reports.
The chatter about a possible Biden run flared anew on Saturday when Times columnist Maureen Dowd published a column reporting that Beau Biden, soon before he passed away from brain cancer in May, urged his father to run for president.
"Beau was losing his nouns and the right side of his face was partially paralyzed. But he had a mission: He tried to make his father promise to run, arguing that the White House should not revert to the Clintons and that the country would be better off with Biden values," Dowd wrote.
The columnist reported that Biden had been "talking to friends, family and donors about jumping in" during meetings at the vice president's residence.
Additionally, CBS News confirmed earlier this week that one of Beau Biden's top political advisors, Josh Alcorn, had joined the "Draft Biden" super PAC that has been pushing the vice president to mount a primary challenge to Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic Party's 2016 nomination.
The vice president's team has steadfastly dismissed the speculation surrounding a potential bid. " As the Biden family continues to go through this difficult time, the vice president is focused on his family and immersed in his work," Biden spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff explained in a statement this week.
To be sure, Clinton holds a commanding lead in early state and national polls of the Democratic primary. A CBS News survey released earlier this week, for example, found her support at 58 percent among Democrats nationwide. Her closest challenger, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, nabbed 17 percent. Biden came in third with 11 percent.
But continued questions about Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state, along with polls showing voters have doubts about her honesty and trustworthiness, have raised concerns among some Democrats that the party should have a "Plan B" in case Clinton's bid takes on too much water.
Still, given her continued dominance in the polls, along with her sizable organizational and financial advantages, it would be tough for any Democrat to derail Clinton's bid, even one who holds the vice presidency.
Some prominent Democrats have counseled Biden to think long and hard about whether he wants to submit to the slog of a presidential race -- or whether his legacy might be better preserved if he declines to run.
"I understand completely why he would consider running," David Axelrod, formerly one of President Obama's top political advisers, told the Times, citing Biden's stint as vice president and long tenure in the Senate. "On the other side is the reality of running for president. The fund-raising, the demands of campaigning and organizing, the constant and irritating exposure and the prospect of running against a well-fortified opponent who has a huge head start. Add all that up, and it is a counterweight to why he should run."
"He's been through this before; he understands what is involved," Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, told the Times. "The reputation he enjoys in this country is solid, whatever his final decision."