COLUMBIA, S.C. — He’s sought the presidency twice before, only to fall woefully short. Now, in what many people would consider the autumn of their own lives, Joe Biden is weighing whether he’ll make a third and final run.
His travel, his calendar and interviews with supporters suggest he’s getting in position to seek the 2016 Democratic nomination.
He’s taken pains to court activists in the early primary states. Earlier this month, he wooed Democratic activists in South Carolina. In January, he invited key Democrats from New Hampshire to be his guests alongside family and close friends at the small ceremony where he was sworn in for a second term as vice president. He made the rounds at a pre-inaugural party for Democrats from Iowa. Those states go 1-2-3 in voting for a nominee, and Biden may have jumped the gun with a revealing slip of the tongue at the Iowa party. “I’m proud to be president of the United States,” he said.
And he’s maintaining close ties to key Democratic constituencies, meeting in the last two weeks alone with African-American and Asian-American interest groups.