Joe Biden Moving Closer to 2016 Campaign Launch

At this point, it sounds like the chances are greater than fifty percent that the Vice President tosses his hat in the ring to challenge Hillary Clinton. As her email saga drags on, her poll numbers are dropping, and the folks at Biden headquarters must be watching intently.

Report from The Hill:

Vice President Biden has little time to decide whether Hillary Clinton’s problems have opened up a lane for his third presidential bid.

With less than six months to go before the Iowa caucuses, Biden has to make a decision fast on whether to take on Clinton in what would be a decidedly underdog campaign.

“You can always raise a little more money, you can always recruit a little more volunteers, but you can’t put days back on the calendar,” said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon.

“You can’t just throw together a national campaign on the fly, it takes a while.”

There’s no doubt that Biden is mulling a run.

With Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) topping Clinton in one poll of New Hampshire voters, and the controversy surrounding the former secretary of State’s private email server swirling, it’s also true that the Democratic front-runner looks vulnerable.

“The email scandal has to play into the calculus here,” said Geoffrey Skelley, a political analyst with the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “The fact that Biden is even considering this reflects that there are people in the Democratic Party establishment that are concerned that Clinton isn’t going to be able to hold up.”

Hillary Clinton currently looks more vulnerable than anyone expected her to be, at least at this phase in the game. With Bernie Sanders topping her in a recent New Hampshire poll, Biden clearly has an opening to explore. The strategists are griping that Biden is wasting time each day he doesn’t announce a campaign and begin to gear up. However, I would think that out of the gate, Biden could harness much of the Obama campaign machinery and operatives they’ve scooped up over the years. I could be wrong, but given his status as the sitting Vice President, getting a campaign fully running in days seems like a reasonable possibility.