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Joe Biden: No Reason Not to Run for Prez

by Camille Bautista

He's charming, he's awkward, he flirts with bikers and grandmas — sounds like a potential president to us. In an interview airing Friday with CNN, Vice President Joe Biden says he can't think of a good reason why he shouldn't run for the presidency in 2016, but that a final decision will come by summer 2015. His focuses, not only as prospective candidate, but in his overall career, are to give "ordinary people a fighting chance to make it" and establish a sound foreign policy.

"There may be reasons I don’t run, but there’s no obvious reason for me why I think I should not run," he says. "For me, the decision to run or not run is going to be determined by me, as to whether I am the best qualified person to focus on the few things I’ve spent my whole life on."

Biden has a pretty inspiring story that could win over voters during a campaign: he was bullied as a child for a stuttering problem. He spent time reading and reciting poetry to improve his speech, but still got dubbed the nickname "Joe Impedimenta". Then, at 29, he went on to become one of the youngest people elected to the United States Senate. Who doesn't love an underdog? (This guy.)

During a speech to the United Auto Workers on Wednesday, Biden joked that "one overwhelming reason" not to run for president is being able to drive his Corvette. The 71-year-old has already ran twice for president, in 1998, then 2008.

Have his infamous little slip-ups been hinting at his campaign decision all along? At the Iowa State Society inauguration ball in 2013, Biden said, "I'm proud to be president of the United States." And in an interview with GQ, the vice president said, "I can die a happy man never having been president of the United States of America. But it doesn't mean I won't run."

Biden has already faced rising pressures from backers to amp up his fundraising efforts. If he chooses to run, it may be an epic showdown between him and Hillary Clinton.