Vice President Joe Biden opened the door Wednesday to a potential presidential primary challenge to former secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.
“Yes, there is a chance” he would challenge Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 2016, he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“But I haven’t made my mind up about that. We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then. There’s plenty of time.”
Both Clinton and Biden have made no secret of their interest in running in 2016, but Clinton allies have been building an organization that encompasses many of the key strategists and operatives in the Democratic field, and she holds a significant double-digit lead in every poll of the potential field.
Biden doesn’t always come in second — that position in Democrats’ hearts is often held by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a liberal icon whom many progressives see as their only alternative to Clinton.
But Biden said he feels there’s a chance for any candidate to break ahead.
“I think this is wide open on both sides,” he said of the presidential primaries. “Right now my focus is getting implemented what the president talked about last night: to nail down this recovery and get the middle class back in the game.
During a round of interviews following Tuesday night’s State of the Union, Biden continued to talk up his chances, saying on NBC’s “Today” he feels he’d “do a good job” as president.
Although by this time in 2007, Biden had already declared, he said Thursday he doesn’t need to decide until the summer about another White House run. In the meantime, the vice president has friendly remarks for Clinton — he called her a “really competent, capable person and a friend.”
