Draft Biden group steams ahead as questions linger on candidacy

People who have joined the Draft Joe Biden movement say they aren’t sure if the vice president will enter the race, but are certain they want to give him every chance to be successful if he does. 

They are organizing in key early primary states even as Biden’s appetite for a presidential run is less certain at week’s end than it was days ago when he had a number of public appearances. 

{mosads}“My involvement is not predicated on a calculus about how likely or unlikely he is to get into the race. It’s predicated on the fact that I support the vice president and hope that he does” run said Mike Cuzzi, a former Obama for America New Hampshire deputy director who has joined Draft Biden as a strategist in the state.

The Draft Biden group, which started in March, got little notice or serious thought for months, as most saw Hillary Clinton as the presumptive Democratic nominee and the front-runner for the White House. 

But questions about her trustworthiness and private email server over the last few months have lingered and Clinton has fallen in the polls, though she is still on top in the Democratic race. But the latest CNN/ORC polling showed her trailing retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.), causing some Democrats to look to Biden as a potential alternative. 

The Draft Biden group received a large boost when Josh Alcorn, a former Biden campaign staffer turned aide and friend to Biden’s late son Beau, joined in August as a paid staffer. He hoped that the move could be a “sign” to Joe Biden’s network to connect with the group.

“The important thing was that all of the work that I knew needed to get done, Draft Biden was doing, but could do it with more resources and a connection to that Biden network,” he said.

“I genuinely want to see him as the president of the United States. But there’s nothing I can do to get him in the race except go help Draft Biden.”

Alcorn added that the group has seen a fundraising uptick over the past few weeks, “well on its way” toward a fundraising goal of between $2.5 million and $3 million, and now has the capacity to expand further.

This month alone, the group announced new hires or key volunteers in all four early primary states, many of whom politically connected and longtime supporters of Biden. 

Those include a former Obama administration official and a state senator from South Carolina, the former Obama campaign aide in Cuzzi and a state lawmaker from New Hampshire, a longtime Democratic activist and a former state House Majority leader in Iowa, and a former Sen. Harry Reid campaign staffer in Nevada. 

These moves come as Biden still remains unclear about his decision. 

The vice president stepped up his visibility this week after remaining out of the public eye as he mourned the death of Beau, who died in May.  

A Labor Day speech to union workers, an appearance at a rally to raise the minimum wage and an impending sit-down on late night television stoked the speculation that Biden is beginning to act more like a candidate. 

That late-night television appearance that again threw his candidacy into question.

“I don’t think any man or woman should run for president unless, number one, they know exactly why they would want to be president, and number two, they can look at the folks out there and say, ‘I promise you, you have my whole heart,” he told Stephen Colbert Thursday night in an emotional interview on the “Late Show.” 

“I’d be lying if I sad that I knew I was there; I’m being completely honest.” 

The vice president neared tears a handful of times as he talked about Beau and told Colbert that sometimes the grief just “overwhelms him,” like it did when he met a group of military families in Denver in July, just six weeks after his son’s death.

For Teri Hawks Goodmann, a Democratic activist and long-time Biden family friend who recently signed on as a volunteer co-chair the Draft Biden effort in Iowa, it was a public glimpse of the character that she and other Biden loyalists say helped draw them into supporting his potential bid. 

“It’s important for the American people to see authentic folks on television, running for office, and elected to office because so much of what political life is in this country has become contrived, premeditated, and frankly phony,” she said, adding that more supporters reached out to the Draft Biden team after the Colbert interview. 

“None of those words apply to Joe Biden or his family.” 

Inez Tenenbaum, a former Obama administration Consumer Product Safety Commission head who’s now Draft Biden’s South Carolina co-chair, expressed a similar sentiment. She spoke to Biden in August when the vice president called her husband for his birthday, and it was clear then that he hadn’t yet made up his mind.

“I just wanted to show him how much I think of him, that I’m here if he decides to run,” she said. 

As Draft Biden continues to wait for a decision, the vice president is nearing potential logistical pitfalls.

The first Democratic debate is Oct. 13, so waiting past that point will limit the opportunities he has to take on Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), from whom he’d need to wrestle a fair share of support. 

And according to a new report this week by The Brookings Institute, Biden could miss out on more than 1,500 of the Democratic delegates if he waits until January to file, more than half of what’s needed for the Democratic nomination. 

While Draft Biden can’t do any work to get Biden on the ballot officially, a source familiar with the group’s digital strategy told The Hill it will work to rally support in states with strict filing requirements.

Like many of the Draft Biden staff and volunteers who spoke with The Hill, Goodmann said she hasn’t spoken to the vice president since joining the group.  Her goal isn’t to goad him into running, but to be waiting with arms wide open if he does. 

“We’re good, practical people in Iowa, so we are putting a plan in place should the vice president and his family decide to run,” she said. 

“But if he doesn’t, we want to stand up for him and say we salute you, thank you for your service.”