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In a stunning announcement in the Rose Garden, Vice President Biden decided not to seek the presidency in 2016

With President Obama by his side, Biden still grieving from the death of his son realized he could not put together a realistic campaign for president and with this decided not to run for president.

“As my family and I have worked through the grieving process, 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.”

Real Clear Politics reported the decision not to run had been months in the making, as Biden deliberated, analyzed, probed and prayed about whether he should compete against Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and the rest of the Democratic field to try to become his party’s standard-bearer. In 15 weeks, Democrats will cast their first primary votes, and Clinton and Sanders have built war chests and ground operations in the early voting states.

This decision by Biden left many supporters and political pundits stunned over his announcement, as many believed he would challenge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.  His potential candidacy was in response to the lingering controversy surrounding Clinton and the scandal over her use of a private email and server which she had conducted all government business through.

With this announcement Biden stated he will not go quietly into the night, but will defend the record of the administration and urged all Democrats to embrace the success of the Obama legacy.

“We’ve got a lot of work to get done over the next 15 months, and there’s a lot that the President will have to get done.  But let me be clear that we’ll be building on a really solid foundation.  But it all starts with giving the middle class a fighting chance.”

This announcement by Biden has made it easier for Clinton to secure her party’s nomination for President, as he would have pulled votes away from her instead of Bernie Sanders’ base supporters.

The statement by the Biden, was also a bit odd, after stating he was not seeking his party’s nomination for president he listed off numerous items he would like to see accomplished as if he were seeking the presidency.

He also made a jab at Clinton, who in last week’s debate, when the candidates were all asked who over the course of their careers where their enemies, she responded, “In addition to the NRA, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the Iranians — probably the Republicans.”

Biden remarked, “I believe we have to end the divisive partisan politics that is ripping this country apart.  And I think we can.  It’s mean-spirited.  It’s petty.  And it’s gone on for much too long.  I don’t believe, like some do, that it’s naïve to talk to Republicans.  I don’t think we should look at Republicans as our enemies.  They are our opposition; they’re not our enemies.  And for the sake of the country, we have to work together.”

He continued, “As the President said many times, compromise is not a dirty word.  Look at it this way, folks — how does this country function without consensus?  How can we move forward without being able to arrive at consensus?  Four more years of this kind of pitched battle may be more than this country can take.  We have to change it.  We have to change it.”

The real question becomes, did Biden really bow out of the campaign for president, or did he leave a small window open, just in case Clinton stumbles before the Benghazi committee on Thursday, or if the FBI in the course of their investigation finds damaging information on how she handled classified material. This again was in reference to her having a private email server, which she directed her private email through while conducting government business.

The presidential campaign of 2016 has confounded pundits from both sides, so who knows how this will end up.