-Source-The Atlantic-
Joe Biden has entered another long season of indecision. In London this week, he teased that he’s not a presidential candidate “at this point.” In March, he told a university audience, “I have to be able to … look in the mirror and know that if I don’t run, it’s not because I’m afraid of losing, it’s not because I don’t want to take on the responsibility.” In February, he mused to Andrea Mitchell, “Is this right for me to do?” And last November, he told Vanity Fair: “I haven’t decided to run, but I’ve decided I’m not going to decide not to run.”
It’s a veritable callback to 2015, when Biden grappled at length with ambition and grief. The death of his son Beau that year weighed heavily; at the same time, his dream of being president—which he announced as a teenager—still burned incandescently. He went public with his rumination, at one point telling Stephen Colbert, “I don’t think any man or woman should run for president unless [they can say to voters] you have my whole heart, my whole soul, my energy, and my passion to do this. And I’d be lying if I said that I knew I was there.” A month later, he announced he wouldn’t run in 2016. Three months after that, he second-guessed his decision and said, “I regret it every day.”
'We Are Living Through a Battle for the Soul of This Nation'
JOE BIDEN
Now, it’s happening again—Hamlet meets Groundhog Day—and it’s tough to tell what Biden is planning. He’s campaigning intensely for a Democratic Congress, and close aides have been gaming out bold scenarios for a 2020 bid, like pledging to serve only one term or announcing a young running mate at the starting gate. But he reportedly doesn’t want the dozen-plus Democratic aspirants to wait for him to make up his mind.
In Democratic circles, the common nickname for Biden is “Uncle Joe.” But it cuts two ways. On the one hand, it connotes the kind of familiarity and affection that comes with his longtime presence in the capital, and his tenure as the loyal sidekick to a president who’s still popular with the party base. Grassroots Democrats say he’s their top choice for 2020, as evidenced this year in a series of polls. Read more
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