Why Joe Biden might not run in 2016
Joe Biden gave a personal interview on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week. Does it mean he'll run in 2016?
Vice President Joe Biden puts on a United Steelworkers hat before joining in Pittsburgh's annual Labor Day parade on Monday, Sept. 7, 2015. Biden is seriously considering a late entry into the 2016 Democratic presidential campaign. His entry could jumble a Democratic contest that has seen front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton's lead diminish in early states against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Keith Srakocic/AP
In an interview with Stephen Colbert this week on the Late Show, Vice President Joe Biden revealed how his faith and strong relationship with his surviving son, Hunter, as well as an extended family and network of supporters, have helped him through the challenging moments in the wake of his son Beau’s passing.
Mr. Biden said during the interview that he was extremely close with his son, and that even at the end of his son’s life, Beau wanted to make sure that his father would be okay.
"Dad, I know how much you love me. Promise me you're going to be all right," Biden recounted. "I never once, my word as a Biden, never ever heard my child complain…. I was a hell of a success. My son was better than me. He was better than me in every way."
He commented on the comfort that the rituals, as well as the theology, of his Roman Catholic background have given him, despite the personal tragedies in his life. “My religion is an enormous sense of solace…. I say the rosary, I find it to be comforting,” Biden told Mr. Colbert.
He also mentioned a Kierkegaard quote that his wife selected for him, that “Faith sees best in the dark.”
However, he also stressed that despite the intense speculation, he is not yet emotionally ready to commit to another bid for the presidency, because of the continued grief that he and his family face over Beau’s death.
You should be “running [for office] for a reason,” Biden said, at the beginning of the interview.
“I don't think any man or woman should run for president unless, number one, they know exactly why they would want to be president and, number two, they can look at folks out there and say, 'I promise you, you have my whole heart, my whole soul, my energy, and my passion to do this,’” Biden told Colbert.
"And I'd be lying if I said that I knew I was there," Biden continued.
Biden has sought the presidency twice before, in 1988 and 2008. Interest in a possible Biden run, as well as other Democratic contenders, such as Bernie Sanders, has risen sharply as Hillary Clinton has continued to face criticism regarding her use of a private email account during her tenure as secretary of State.