National
Biden: I’m not running for president in 2016
Vice President Joseph Biden recently announced that he will not run for president. Photo taken during a 2008 campaign event in Springfield, Illinois. (Daniel Schwen/Wikimedia Commons)
(Yahoo) – Ending months of will-he-won’t-he speculation, Vice President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he is not running for president in 2016, saying the process of grieving for his son Beau had sidelined him for too long.
“Unfortunately, I believe we’re out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination,” Biden declared in a hastily announced and emotional statement in the Rose Garden of the White House.
The vice president spoke with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, and President Obama standing at his side.
The announcement capped months of speculation about whether he still had time to build the kind of fundraising and get-out-the-vote structure required for successful modern campaigns. Public opinion polls never showed him leading the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and veteran party strategists privately doubted he could seriously challenge her for the affections of party activists.
