Vice President Joe Biden is leaning closer to a bid for the presidency, recently meeting with influential members of his party and hiring a communications director. Biden, 72, looks to jump into a Democratic field upended by candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and plagued by Sec. Hillary Clinton’s weak poll performance.

With 17 Republicans and five Democrats currently vying for their parties’ nominations, Biden is entering a crowded field and looking to use his decades of Washington experience, both as a six-term Senator from Delaware and a two-term Vice President for President Obama  to gain popularity among voters.

In the Senate, in which he has served from 1973 (when Richard Nixon was President) and through his appointment as Vice President, Biden led many groups and initiatives, most prominently as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

What remains to be seen is whether VP Biden will surrender a bid to help his family grieve the death of his 46-year-old son, Beau, who lost a battle with brain cancer in May. As Biden said, “I would have to be able to give it my whole heart and my whole soul, and right now, both are pretty well banged up.”

With less than 50 days until the first debate, Biden is running out of time to make a decision.

by Oliver Kornberg ‘16