Former US Vice President Joe Biden is tiptoeing toward a potential run in 2020, even broaching the possibility during a recent gathering of longtime foreign policy aides.
Huddled in his newly opened office steps from the US Capitol, Biden began a planning meeting for his new diplomacy centre by addressing the elephant in the room.
He said he was keeping his 2020 options open, considering it a real possibility.
He insisted he had made no decision, and didn't need to yet, according to five people who either attended the meeting or were briefed on it by those who did.
The political world has long tried to game out Biden's plans for 2020.
After all, he came close to running last time only to see President Donald Trump pull off a victory that many Democrats openly suggest wouldn't have happened had he, not Hillary Clinton, been their nominee.
Several people came away from the meeting with the impression that if no strong Democratic candidate emerges in the next year or so, Biden would feel strongly compelled to run.
A presidential candidate twice before, Biden would be 78 on Inauguration Day if elected in 2020, a concerning prospect for some Democrats even though he's only a few years older than Trump.
One possibility that Biden's longtime advisers have discussed privately is that he could announce his intention to serve only one term, clearing the path for his running mate to take over in 2024 and potentially setting up Democrats for a 12-year White House stretch.
In a recent NBC News interview, Biden said he'd decide on running in 2020 based on whether it was "the right thing to do."
"I'm focused on one thing: electing a Democratic Congress to stop this erosion of the core of who we are," Biden said. "I'll look at that a year from now. I have plenty of time to consider whether or not to run."
