Biden 2016? It's Actually Possible

The idea of Joe Biden as a 2016 candidate for president has largely been a non-starter, thanks to the fact that he will be 73 that year. Many assumed that ripe old age "would snuff the last embers" of any presidential ambition he may have, Glenn Thrush explains for Politico, "but the old fire crackles yet." The evidence that the idea of Biden 2016 isn't as far-fetched as it seems, as per Thrush: Biden recently went on a hiring binge, and brought Steve Ricchetti, Bill Clinton's former deputy chief of staff, into his camp.

He's also campaigning for the 2012 run with what Thrush describes as "a young man's tenacity," and former senator/buddy Ted Kaufman says Biden is certainly physically capable of going for the White House again in 2016. His chances, however, depend on Obama winning in November, while potential 2016 candidate Hillary Clinton could "actually fare better if Obama loses." But Clinton or no Clinton, Biden would face "an uphill fight," battling possible opponents like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. And all those gaffes aside, "there’s the blunt reality that Biden, for all his energy and affability, has never been terribly popular nationally." (More Joe Biden stories.)