--- title: Polls: Democrats Split Over Biden, Clinton Has the Lead description: A new NBC/WSJ poll shows Democrats are divided over whether or not Biden should enter the race canonical: https://time.com/4079480/joe-biden-poll-democrats-split/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-20T13:26:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:59.841Z article:section: Politics og:title: Democrats Split Over Biden Run, New Poll Shows og:description: A new NBC/WSJ poll shows Democrats are divided over whether Biden should enter the race og:url: https://time.com/4079480/joe-biden-poll-democrats-split/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23182c059ac4dab7/698868faf887dc0662e92ed6/biden2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Vice President Biden Attends Tribute To Walter Mondale At George Washington University og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Democrats Split Over Biden Run, New Poll Shows twitter:description: A new NBC/WSJ poll shows Democrats are divided over whether Biden should enter the race twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23182c059ac4dab7/698868faf887dc0662e92ed6/biden2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Democrats Split Over Biden Run, New Poll Shows > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 20, 2015 1:26 PM UTC  US Vice President Joe Biden speaks during an event to honor former Vice President Walter Mondale at George Washington University in Washington, DC., Oct. 20, 2015. US Vice President Joe Biden speaks during an event to honor former Vice President Walter Mondale at George Washington University in Washington, DC., Oct. 20, 2015. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 20, 2015 1:26 PM UTC A new poll suggests Democrats are divided over whether Vice President Joe Biden should enter the 2016 race for president. Speculation over a potential Biden run has spiked this week, but according to a new [NBC/Wall Street Journal poll](http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/democrats-divided-whether-joe-biden-should-enter-2016-race-n447436) while some 30% of Democrats are ready for Joe, about 38% want him to sit this one out. The poll, which has a plus or minus 4.9% margin of error, comes on the heels of an [ABC/Washington Post poll ](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/clinton-rebounds-democratic-race-gaining-sanders-biden-alike/story?id=34580456)that shows former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gaining substantial ground among her opponents—including yet-to-enter Biden—following her strong debate performance last week. According to that poll, Clinton has the support of about 54% of Democrats, up from 42% in September, and Biden has the support of about 16%, down from 21% a month ago. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has 23% in the ABC/WaPo poll. If Biden does enter the race this week, it’s hard to imagine him finding time to squeeze in a campaign launch on Tuesday—the Vice President is scheduled to deliver remarks at the Walter Mondale: Living Legacy forum, have lunch with the President, meet with the Secretary of State, host a reception and deliver remarks at a gala. See more poll results at [NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/democrats-divided-whether-joe-biden-should-enter-2016-race-n447436). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4079480/joe-biden-poll-democrats-split/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4079480/joe-biden-poll-democrats-split/"},"headline":"Democrats Split Over Biden Run, New Poll Shows","datePublished":"2015-10-20T13:26:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:59.841Z","description":"A new NBC/WSJ poll shows Democrats are divided over whether Biden should enter the race","url":"https://time.com/4079480/joe-biden-poll-democrats-split/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Joe Biden","politics","Polling","vice president","Democrats 2016"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23182c059ac4dab7/698868faf887dc0662e92ed6/biden2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23182c059ac4dab7/698868faf887dc0662e92ed6/biden2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Vice President Biden Attends Tribute To Walter Mondale At George Washington University","caption":"Vice President Biden Attends Tribute To Walter Mondale At George Washington University","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4079480/joe-biden-poll-democrats-split/","name":"Democrats Split Over Biden Run, New Poll Shows"}}]}] ```