Donors hearing a buzz for Biden
WASHINGTON - The possibility that Vice President Biden may jump into the 2016 presidential campaign is convulsing the network of wealthy Democrats that financed President Obama's two White House bids, galvanizing fund-raisers underwhelmed by Hillary Rodham Clinton's performance.
WASHINGTON - The possibility that Vice President Biden may jump into the 2016 presidential campaign is convulsing the network of wealthy Democrats that financed President Obama's two White House bids, galvanizing fund-raisers underwhelmed by Hillary Rodham Clinton's performance.
A wide swath of party financiers is convinced Biden will make a late entry into the race and a sizable number are contemplating backing him, including some who have signed on with Clinton, according to more than a dozen top party fund-raisers.
Their potential support - driven in part by a desire to recapture the passion they felt in Obama's campaigns - could play a key role in helping Biden decide whether to move forward on a third White House run.
He addressed the issue Wednesday in a private conference call with members of the Democratic National Committee, saying he was assessing whether he had "the emotional fuel" to run.
"We're dealing at home with . . . whether or not there is the emotional fuel at this time to run," he told DNC members, according to CNN, which obtained access to the conversation. "If I were to announce to run, I have to be able to commit to all of you that I would be able to give it my whole heart and my whole soul, and right now, both are pretty well banged up" - a reference to the death of his son Beau in May.
Up for grabs
Clinton still maintains a deep and loyal donor base, and her financial dominance would present a huge challenge for Biden. She amassed a record $47 million during her first quarter as a candidate and is flanked by an array of super PACs and other independent allies socking away millions to help her secure the presidency.
But there is growing unease among some of Obama's biggest financial backers about the controversy over Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. While Biden has not built his own fund-raising network, he has developed personal relationships with donors around the country.
Many are still up for grabs. Of the 770 fund-raisers who bundled checks for Obama's 2012 reelection, just 52 have signed on so far as a "Hillblazer" bundler for Clinton or have hosted a fund-raiser for her, according to a Washington Post analysis.
Top Democratic money players - many of whom requested anonymity - said discussions among senior Obama fund-raisers about Biden's possible bid have taken a serious turn in the last few days.
They 'just love' Biden
Kirk Dornbush, a San Francisco biotech executive who helped lead Obama's fund-raising in the South and has not signed on with Clinton, said Biden would find a receptive audience among the president's bundlers.
"Obama donors - the whole Obama world - just loves Joe Biden. Just loves Joe Biden," said Dornbush, whose father served as President Bill Clinton's ambassador to the Netherlands.
Jon Cooper, a former Obama bundler who is the national finance chair for the Draft Biden 2016 super PAC, said he was fielding increasing interest from fund-raisers he worked with in the last two presidential campaigns. Nearly a dozen of the 35 bundlers Cooper contacted personally have committed to help if the vice president runs, according to the Long Island technology manufacturer.
Clinton spokesman Josh Schwerin declined to comment on donor interest in a Biden campaign, saying, "Hillary Clinton is grateful to the hundreds of thousands of people who have stepped up to support her campaign and made her first quarter in the race a historic one."
