Hillary Clinton 2016, or, why Joe Biden is so effed

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor

There is no question in my mind anymore that Hillary Clinton is running for President.  She's running, which doesn't necessarily mean she will remain running.  But for the moment, she's in.  She is making the rounds of all the appropriate conclaves, has worked to solidify her position with the black community after majorly offending many of them (in particular some of the things Bill Clinton said on the campaign trail caused a lot of hurt), and is checking in with all her old friends and supporters.  The strategy seems to be working.

As much as she and BHO tilted during the 2008 campaign, she was a loyal and hard working Secretary of State, and they seemed to have emerged from it all with at least a deep mutual respect.  So much so that President Obama has done literally nothing to help grease the skids in case Joe Biden decides to throw his hat in the ring.  In fact, in 2012, the White House took their sweet time to deny persistent rumors that BHO would dump Joe Biden and replace him on the ticket with HRC.  A President would normally give a serious boost to their VPOTUS at this point in the game.  But BHO is sitting on his hands.  And Smilin' Joe is understandably frustrated.  But, judging from his visits to various Democratic rallies and numerous visits to the early caucus state, Iowa, he too is running for President.  For now. 

In numerous appearances in the last year, former SoS/Senator/First Lady Clinton has differentiated herself from VP Biden, often by reiterating her support for the raid that captured and killed Osama bin Laden (which the Veep strongly opposed).    

In a September appearance in Iowa, Vice President Biden said that John Kerry, Clinton’s successor as secretary of State, was “one of the best secretaries of State in the nation’s history." Clinton was not even mentioned.

Joe Trippi, the veteran Democratic operative who ran Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in 2004, told Real Clear Politics that he did not believe Biden would take on Clinton but that it was possible that something unforeseeable might make her decide not to run (or leave her seriously weakened or wounded).

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