Biden closes door on run for president

After publicly agonizing for months, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he will not run for president next year, solidifying the Democratic contest as a two-person race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Appearing at the White House, Biden said that nearly five months after the death of his son Beau, his family is finally ready to handle a national campaign, but the window to run one had closed.

“Unfortunately, I believe we’re out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination,” Biden said before offering a glimpse of what his emotional run would have looked like.

“But while I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent,” the vice president said. “I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully to influence as much as I can where we stand as a party and where we need to go as a nation.”

Biden's decision spares Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton from a fresh challenge, as she has seen a polling bump after the party's first presidential campaign debate last week.

Clinton is scheduled to testify Thursday before a U.S. House committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack, a much-scrutinized appearance. And Sanders, the Vermont senator mounting a vigorous campaign from the left, shows no signs of going away easily.

Biden did not pick a candidate Wednesday, appearing in the Rose Garden with President Barack Obama. In fact, Biden gave what sounded like an announcement or stump speech — an indication of how close he came to running.

In it were implicit criticisms of Clinton, the former first lady and secretary of state.

In last week's debate, Clinton was asked which enemy she's proudest of, and she ended her list with "probably the Republicans." Biden took exception to such thinking.

“I don’t believe, like some do, that it’s naive to talk to Republicans,” Biden said. “I don’t think we should look at Republicans as our enemies. They are our opposition. They’re not our enemies.”

Biden also indicated he would have essentially run for Obama's third term, which he cast as smart politics. Clinton has broken with the president on issues such as a Pacific Rim trade deal and Arctic drilling.

“I believe President Obama has led this nation from crisis to recovery, and we’re now on the cusp of resurgence, and I’m proud to have played a part in that,” Biden said. “This party — our nation — will be making a tragic mistake if we walk away or attempt to undo the Obama legacy.

“The American people have worked too hard and we’ve come too far for that. Democrats should not only defend this record and protect this record. They should run on the record.”

In a prepared statement, Clinton sought to embrace that record.

“As Vice President, Joe has been by President Obama’s side for every pivotal decision,” Clinton said. “He helped save the auto industry and pull our economy back from the brink of depression. He continues to fight for higher wages, safer communities, and a more peaceful world. It’s a record to be proud of, defend, and build on.”

If the decision was a win for Clinton, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus cast it as a victory for the GOP.

“The Vice President’s decision not to enter the 2016 race is a major blow for Democrats, who now will almost certainly be saddled with their unpopular and scandal plagued front-runner Hillary Clinton,” Priebus said in a statement. “Vice President Biden was the most formidable general election candidate the Democrat Party could have fielded.”

Biden’s window closed in part because of Clinton’s early spadework to build a solid campaign in Georgia and throughout the country. Clinton locked down just about every big name in Georgia Democratic politics, and several said that although they like Biden personally, they were relieved he did not jump in the race.

“That rivalry would have ripped the party apart, and it would have been very challenging for Democrats to emerge from and then have a strong general election,” Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said. “I know it was a very tough process to go through, but he did what he has consistently done — which is put the country first.”

While Georgia's Democratic establishment had lined up behind Clinton and Sanders stoked big excitement among the state's liberals, Biden backers were hard to find.

On Monday, state Rep. Dar'shun Kendrick, D-Lithonia, looked high and low for fellow Biden supporters. She finally sent out this message via Twitter: "I hereby self appoint myself to the Joe Biden leadership team for Georgia. I'm not sure if that's how it works but there ya go."

Shortly after Biden's announcement Wednesday, Kendrick tweeted: "Sigh…..welp. Guess I will support Hillary. Note my enthusiasm."

Paul and Maxine Troop of Johns Creek, who since this spring have headed up the Draft Biden 2016 movement in Georgia, were in Spain. On Tuesday, in a telephone interview, Paul Troop, 73, acknowledged that most of the state’s Democratic leadership was behind Clinton.

“But there’s still a groundswell among rank-and-file Democrats,” Troop said. “It’s by no means solid for any of the Democrats right now.”

Former Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Webb announced Tuesday that he was dropping out of the Democratic race, as he ponders running as an independent. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and Harvard professor Larry Lessig are still in, but they trail badly in polls and fundraising.