Steve Schale, a top fundraiser for President Barack Obama who ran his Florida campaign in 2008, is joining Draft Biden in a to-be-determined senior adviser role.
“I’m a long time admirer of the Vice President, and frankly when it became clear that he was giving the race serious consideration, I just raised my hand,” Schale told CNN on Wednesday. “I made the choice a few years ago to mostly get out of politics as a vocation, other than as a volunteer for people and causes that I care about.”
Biden came in third with 14% support, behind Hillary Clinton (47%) and Bernie Sanders (29%), in a CNN/ORC national poll released Wednesday.
“We are still working out what the role will be, but largely will be to support the efforts of the ‘Draft’ effort, from helping make the public case, as well as working to grow the grassroots organization. As I told Josh Alcorn, I’m just an old political hand here to volunteer, in whatever way they think is most useful,” Schale said.
Biden is is still considering a late White House run, making a select few phone calls to supporters as they consider how he could make a late entrance to the presidential race.
But Biden remains undecided about launching another bid and on the phone appears interested in feeling out the political realities of getting in the race. He’s inquired about how long he can wait to get in the race and how much money he would need to raise.