On August 14, Nick Gass of Politico reported:
If Vice President Joe Biden makes the leap into the Democratic presidential race, he could promise that he would serve just one term in the White House, journalist and author Carl Bernstein said Friday.
“And one thing that I keep hearing about Biden is that if he were to declare and say, because age is such a problem for him if he does, I want to be a one-term president. I want to serve for four years, unite Washington. I’ve dealt with the Republicans in Congress all my public life,” Bernstein told CNN’s “New Day.”
“I think there’s a conversation going on to that effect among his aides and friends,” he said. “It could light fire to the current political environment.”
Biden announcing he would only serve one term would certainly light a fire to the current political environment. However, what would be his path to the nomination against Hillary Clinton? Enter today's news from Mark Hensch of The Hill:
Vice President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Washington, D.C.’s Naval Observatory on Saturday for a confidential talk with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), CNN reported.
Biden’s return to the District comes amid buzz he is seriously weighing a 2016 Oval Office bid.
CNN said that two sources confirmed the pair’s face-to-face, the biggest indicator yet that Biden is seriously tempted by an Oval Office bid next year.
“The vice president traveled last minute to Washington, D.C. for a private meeting and will be returning to Delaware,” an aide told CNN. Biden spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff declined further comment on the alleged rendezvous
Would there be a better way for Biden to win the nomination then to say he is going to do his best to fix Washington in 4 years and then turn things over to Elizabeth Warren? How would Hillary respond to this ticket? Would Sanders voters change sides if they thought/knew Warren would be his VP and likely Democratic Presidential nominee in 2020? Of course this is all fantasy at this point, but I think it would be a politically brilliant move on Biden's part. This would have the potential to unite the various factions of the Democratic Party and immediately shape the future direction of it.
1:58 PM PT: Update: I had meant to add that in the current political climate, with so much rightful anger manifesting itself against how the system does not currently work, the idea of a one term presidency could have more appeal than it did in 2008. It would all depend on how Biden would sell the idea and what his purpose is for only seeking to serve 4 years. If he sold it as giving him the flexibility necessary to clean up Washington, then I could see it having a certain appeal.
2:46 PM PT: Paul Kahn, Professor of Law at Yale, just wrote about the reason Biden could make this kind of gamble.
"A Biden campaign, however, will disappoint millions of progressives who believe this administration has been too conservative and it will disappoint millions of women who support Hillary in part because they believe it is time for a woman president. These are real issues that Democrats cannot ignore and that Biden cannot surmount on his own.
A ticket that included Elizabeth Warren would speak directly and convincingly to both.
Progressives wanted Warren, not Sanders, to run. She has been the standard bearer for this wing of the Party for several years now. For her to win the presidency, moreover, would represent a more fundamental feminist achievement than a win by Hillary, who after all came into national politics as the spouse of a President. Warren, probably wisely, has renounced a run in 2016. Yet, a Biden campaign, cast as one of completing the work of this administration, would be understood -- implicitly or explicitly -- as leading to a four-year presidency. Biden will be deep into his 70s in four years, which is surely time to retire. In short, running with Biden puts Warren in the prime position to run on her own in four years. This prospect should be far more satisfying to progressives and feminists than watching a spectacle of self-destruction in the coming electoral season if Clinton and Sanders remain our choices."
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