Former Vice President Joe Biden is close to making a move soon.
Insiders tell Politico and The Hill that Biden is making calls to his Capitol Hill constituents to gear up for a 2020 presidential run.
President Donald Trump may have seen the signals early, recently calling Barack Obama’s former running mate “weak.” He also claimed that Obama rescued him from the “trash heap.”
Experts say that Biden is not to be taken lightly. He’s getting support from liberal leaders without even officially having dropped his hat in the race.
Early Iowa polling from Emerson College shows Biden has support from 29 percent of caucus voters — that leads the field of Democrats by a wide margin. The next candidate even remotely close was Sen. Kamala Harris D-Calif. who garnered just 18 percent.
A recent CNN poll also resulted in overwhelming support for the longtime lawmaker.
62 percent of Democratic voters polled say they’d like Biden to run.
His support runs wide and deep after serving for 36 years in the Senate and his 8 years as vice president under former President Barack Obama.
Biden reportedly spoke to Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Sunday, which may be critical: A month ago, Feinstein said she’d get behind Biden if he decided to run.
Feinstein said: “My candidate would be Joe Biden. I watched him as vice president. I’ve seen him operate. I’ve seen him perform and I think he brings a level of experience and seniority, which I think is really important.”
“I think we’ll hear from him within a month. There are a lot of Democrats that will [endorse him].”
Many establishment Democrats echo the same sentiment.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo expressed hope for the former vice president, saying, “I think of all the names that are out there, I think Joe Biden has the best case. I think Joe Biden has the best case because he brings the ingredient you need to win for a Democrat, which is credibility.”
“He just has a broader swath of support across all manner of the electorate than just anybody out there,” said Sen. Doug Jones, D-A.L.
Although the top dogs of Democrats have his back, if he enters, he’ll join a more radical, more youthful race than there’s ever been on the left.
Will Biden be the challenger to President Trump come November 2020?
We’ll soon find out.
—The Horn editorial team