Inside Biden's Final Deliberations - Politico

[WillyT]

Inside Biden's final deliberations
It went down to the wire. But in the end, the vice president decided it was too late to mount a credible campaign.
By Edward-Isaac Dovere and Glenn Thrush - Politico
10/21/15 09:52 PM EDT - Updated 10/21/15 10:40 PM EDT


BIden waited until the last possible moment, once advisers told him Monday he needed to make a final decision. | AP Photo

<snip>

In true Joe Biden form, the entire enterprise was always a little haphazard.

Long after the will-he-won’t-he speculation reached full tilt, Biden asked his chief of staff, Steve Ricchetti, to put together a briefing book on where Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and the other Democratic 2016 contenders stood on the issues. The vice president hadn’t been paying close attention to the campaign.

He spent the last few weeks searching for the right feeling — within his family, within himself, within the crowds he was seeing.

He waited until the last possible moment, once advisers told him Monday he needed to make a final decision.

He needed to sleep on it, Biden said as he wrapped up calls Tuesday evening from the Naval Observatory.

On Wednesday morning at around 9 a.m., Ricchetti was telling people he wasn’t sure what Biden would do.

West Wing staffers were still trading theories about what would happen, when he might decide, what he was going to do, all through the morning. President Barack Obama started his day without knowing yet, either.

The vice president's office declined to comment. But conversations with people in the Biden orbit, advisers, White House staffers and others involved with the discussions about a possible presidential run over the last few weeks and days help explain why the prospects of a run ebbed and flowed so dramatically: Biden was ebbing and flowing that dramatically himself. Yet many of them went into the weekend thinking that at the last moment, Biden was going to be a yes.

The decision about a campaign manager was looking settled. On Sunday night, Draft Biden staffers were locking down social media and URLs for a new super PAC that they expected to start to support a run. The conversations were turning to how big or small the kickoff rally should be.

Aides showed up to work on Monday morning convinced he had finally made up his mind to run.

Then Biden arrived...

<snip>

More: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/inside-bidens-final-deliberations-215043#ixzz3pG8aF9zr

[corkhead]

1. Looks like he subconsciously made his decision by not making one sooner.

[MineralMan]

2. I'll bet he had a huge feeling of relief after making

his decision. The stress of a presidential primary campaign is probably higher than any of us can imagine. Now, he can concentrate on other things again. I can only imagine how he feels today. I suspect it's quite good, though.

[WillyT]

5. I Bet He Is... But The Picture Is Sort Of Sad...

[MineralMan]

6. Life is full of sadness. It's part of the deal.

Right now, my work is suffering because my wife's mother fell and broke six ribs. That means she's in the hospital and my wife has to spend a lot of time with her. She's losing work time. I'm losing work time. I would not add to my workload right now. In fact, both of us have had to appeal to client to give us a bit longer on projects. The clients were happy to oblige.

Joe Biden has suffered an enormous loss. He's been under a high level of stress. Adding campaigning for the office of President would add a large amount of increased stress. He was willing to take that on, if his nation needed him. As it turned out, that wasn't necessary, so he opted to skip the run for President. He has a long, long history of service in public office.

The decision probably wasn't an easy one, so I imagine he's feeling relieved at finally making the decision not to add to the stress in his life. So, I'm sure he's feeling better today for it.

I doubt he's particularly sad about not taking on this campaign. I'm betting he's relieved.

[WillyT]

7. Sorry About Your Situation MM.

I'm taking care of my 86 year old mom who's got some dementia... it ain't easy.

[MineralMan]

8. Yeah. My MiL is 87 and has some memory issues, too.

This fall was not a good thing. Combined with some pain meds, she's more confused than ever. It's difficult, and we know it will take weeks for her ribs to heal.

My parents are both 91 years old, and live in California, far from me. My brother and sister, though, live in the same town as my parents do, so they're handling their extra needs.

We moved here to help my wife's mom, because she had no help here.

[WillyT]

9. I Moved In With My Mom A Few Years Back As Her Primary Jar Opener...

But when she had her Gall Bladder removed a year ago, something happened with her memory.

She started getting lost while driving, forgetting what day it was, etc...

Had to get her car registration back up to date, and a woman working at the DMV heard that story and said,

"It's the anesthesia. Same thing happened to my dad after heart surgery."

I've been hearing similar things since, but what are ya gonna do?

They have to have the surgery, and they have to have the anesthesia.

[MineralMan]

10. We will all grow old,

if we're lucky. If we're young and our parent's have grown old and less able, we should remember that they spent years caring for us as helpless children. We owe them a return on their care. I think about that whenever I am called to their side and feel even slightly annoyed. We're it not for their care, I would not have survived to help them today.

[WillyT]

11. Yep... And I Resent Growing Old...

But the alternative sucks.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. Deliberation- Katatonia Live in Stockholm 2012-11-03

[Renew Deal]

4. This is a great article

Lots of info