Biden’s backers say donors ready
VP’s supporters insist that he has a ‘deep reservoir of support’
Vice President Biden’s backers, racing to line up financial support for his possible 2016 bid, said they are gaining traction among the Democratic fundraisers who helped secure millions for President Obama’s two White House campaigns.
“There will be a deep reservoir of support for the vice president, should he enter the race,” said Jon Cooper, a Long Island businessman who raised $1 million for Obama’s presidential bids.
He serves as finance chairman for Draft Biden 2016, a super PAC laying the foundation for a possi- ble Biden candidacy.
Draft Biden officials said they are on track to raise $2.5 million to $3 million in the next few weeks.
That’s far short of the $67 million Hillary Clinton and affiliated super PACs have drawn this year from her deep donor base.
Add to that Clinton’s big lead in creating a ground force in early voting states and the string of endorsements she’s secured, and it’s clear the vice president faces huge hurdles.
Even so, the chance that Biden could enter the race has roiled the Democratic fundraising world. Some Democrats, alarmed by the controversy over Clinton’s use of a private computer server as secretary of State, are searching for Candidate B.
Others want to recapture the excitement of the spirited 2008 campaign, in which Clinton, Obama, Biden and clutch of other well-known Democrats battled for the nomination.
“A lot of folks are nervous because there isn’t an obvious alternative to Secretary Clinton,” said David Garrison, a Nashville lawyer who raised money for Obama’s campaigns.
Garrison said he is inclined to back Clinton, who he described as the “most electable” candidate in the field.
If Biden entered the race, he said, “it would be a harder decision.”
Is there an opening for Biden? “I don’t know,” Garrison said.
Biden’s every move sparks attention.
He has met with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, an icon to his party’s more liberal wing, and Bob Bauer, who served as a top lawyer in the Obama campaign.
After Labor Day, he plans to gather with top Democratic fundraisers at his official residence,
The Washington Post reported. On Sept. 10, Biden will appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Biden’s aides did not respond to interview requests. Biden told members of the Democratic National Committee last week that he was assessing whether he had the “emotional fuel” to make a third presidential bid after the death of his son Beau in May.
“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,” Biden told DNC members, according to CNN.
Cooper signed on to the Biden effort in July.
Last month, Joshua Alcorn, who served as a top adviser to Beau Biden during his tenure as Delaware’s attorney general, also joined Draft Biden.
Super PAC officials said more than 210,000 people have signed their petition, urging Biden to enter the race.