As he prepares to head to the Sunshine State to speak to the Florida Democratic Partys state convention on Friday night, Vice President Joe Biden hinted earlier this week that 2012 is on his mind -- and so is 2016.
Speaking to CNNs Candy Crowley on Sunday, Biden said his chief political task was to get President Barack Obama re-elected in 2012 -- but he left the door open for making a third bid for the White House in 2016.
I wonder when you look around, if you ever thought, Umh, four more years, 2016. Have you totally ruled that out in your head? asked Crowley. You tried two times to run for president.
My one focus now is getting the president re-elected, insisted Biden. That is the focus. And I'll make up my mind on that later. I'm probably in the best shape I've been in my life. Im doing pretty well. I'm enjoying what I'm doing and as long as I do, I'm going to continue to do it. Well find out. Let's get the president re-elected.
OK, but possibility, you're not closing that door? asked Crowley.
I'm not closing anything, replied Biden.
This is not the first hint that the vice president, who would be 74 in 2016, is thinking about running for president down the road. Biden told prominent Democratic donors back in May that he would be interested in making a third run at the White House.
Biden will be offering the keynote address to the Florida Democrats at the Disney Contemporary Resort in Orlando on Friday night. While he has made two previous bids for the Democratic presidential nomination, Biden has never faced a primary in Florida. In his first bid, for the 1988 Democratic nomination, Bidens campaign imploded with accusations that he had plagiarized a speech by British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. Biden pulled the plug on his campaign in September 1987 -- months before voters went to the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire. In the 2008 presidential cycle, despite strong performances in the debates, Biden ended his presidential bid after a fifth-place finish in Iowa.
History also provides little comfort for Biden if he chooses to seek the White House. With the exception of George H.W. Bush in 1988, the last sitting vice president to win the White House was Martin Van Buren in 1836, though both Al Gore and Richard Nixon went on to win their partys nominations in 2000 and 1960. With the exception of Nixons comeback in 1968, former vice presidents have generally not done well in presidential elections -- Walter Mondale was buried by Ronald Reagan in 1984 and Dan Quayles bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 did not even get to Iowa.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
