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What we gained by Biden not running for presidentBy Jonathan Capehart
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jonathan-capehart> October 21 at 3:27
PM
<capehartj@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20%27What%20we%20gained%20by%20Biden%20not%20running%20for%20president%27>


Vice President Biden ended the will-he-won’t-he speculation about his
political future by announcing he won’t. Won’t run for president
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-decides-against-a-2016-presidential-bid/2015/10/19/bfb58df8-7089-11e5-8248-98e0f5a2e830_story.html>,
that is. Yes, many will be crushed by Biden’s decision. He is one of the
most powerful vice presidents in history and one of this nation’s most
respected public servants. And in his remarks we, as a nation, saw
something else, which I reveal in the video opinion
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/video/editorial/in-biden-america-gains-a-statesman/2015/10/21/6f5d20ca-7825-11e5-a5e2-40d6b2ad18dd_video.html>
below.

Last time we talked, it was about how Hillary Clinton’s debate performance
in Las Vegas last week. After her boffo showing, I said
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/10/14/how-clinton-calmed-the-customary-democrat-freakout/>
that
a presidential run by Vice President Biden seemed much more unlikely and
unnecessary.

Wednesday afternoon, with his wife and President Obama at his side in the
Rose Garden, the vice president made it official
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-decides-against-a-2016-presidential-bid/2015/10/19/bfb58df8-7089-11e5-8248-98e0f5a2e830_story.html>.
He will not run for president. The signs were all there that this would be
his decision.

The clearest signal of a no-go was the announcement from the White House
that Biden would deliver a statement from the Rose Garden with the
president. And he did so from a podium with his vice presidential seal. All
symbols that are off-limits to electoral politics.

Yes, there were signs that he might jump in. There was the very public
<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vice-president-biden-hints-at-potential-bid-on-late-show-with-colbert/>
hand-wringing.
The calls to political allies and union heads. The independent Draft Biden
movement of former staffers who wanted nothing more than to “let Joe be
Joe” and see him run for president a third time. And judging by his
forceful speech after making his intentions known, Biden’s heart, broken by
the death of his beloved son Beau in May, was ready for another run.

But, as he said
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/21/full-text-bidens-announcement-that-he-wont-run-for-president/?tid=sm_tw>,
the grieving process has its own timetable.

*“I’ve said all along what I’ve said time and again to others: that it may
very well be that that process, by the time we get through it, closes the
window on mounting a realistic campaign for president. That it might close.
I’ve concluded it has closed.”*

Biden made it clear that even though he’s not formally running for
president, his voice will be heard during the 2016 campaign. He promised to
be a defender of Obama’s record and legacy and a voice crying out for a
return to the days when bipartisanship and compromise were the unquestioned
foundation of Washington and governance.

Folks, we didn’t lose a candidate. We gained a statesman. A. statesman.

*Follow Jonathan on Twitter: **@Capehartj* <https://twitter.com/CapehartJ