--- description: Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he needs to figure out if he has the "emotional fuel" necessary to wage another campaign title: Biden Unsure He Has the 'Emotional Fuel' for a Presidential Campaign image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa9266f39576f96c/69886129cd1bba6d0f6fce94/joe-biden3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Biden Unsure He Has the 'Emotional Fuel' for a Presidential Campaign  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 27, 2015 1:54 PM CUT  Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a roundtable discussion at the Advanced Manufacturing Center at the Community College of Denver on July 21, 2015. Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a roundtable discussion at the Advanced Manufacturing Center at the Community College of Denver on July 21, 2015.Brennan Linsley—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 27, 2015 1:54 PM CUT Vice President Joe Biden [said](http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/26/politics/joe-biden-dnc-conference-call/index.html "undefined") Wednesday that he needs to figure out if he has the “emotional fuel” necessary to wage another campaign for the White House, in some of his most detailed comments yet on [the prospect of a 2016 run](http://time.com/4012828/joe-biden-weighs-one-more-shot-at-the-job-he-always-wanted/ "undefined"). “If I were to announce to run, I have to be able to commit to all of you that I would be able to give it my whole heart and my whole soul, and right now, both are pretty well banged up,” Biden told members of the Democratic National Committee on a conference call, according to audio [published by CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/26/politics/joe-biden-dnc-conference-call/index.html "undefined"). Biden’s eldest son Beau died of brain cancer in May. Ever since [a report earlier this month that Beau pushed his father to mount another campaign](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/opinion/sunday/maureen-dowd-joe-biden-in-2016-what-would-beau-do.html "undefined") before he died, Democrats have been watching to see what the Vice President will do. **MORE** [Joe Biden Weighs One More Shot at the Job He Always Wanted](http://time.com/4012828/joe-biden-weighs-one-more-shot-at-the-job-he-always-wanted/ "undefined") [A new poll shows](http://time.com/4012594/voters-open-to-joe-biden-presidential-bid-in-new-poll/ "undefined") that voters would be open to Biden if he challenged front-runner Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, and he fares better than Clinton in some hypothetical general election match-ups against Republicans. Clinton [said Wednesday in Iowa](http://time.com/4012539/hillary-clinton-joe-biden/ "undefined") that Biden “should have the space and opportunity to decide what he wants to do.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4012985/joe-biden-hillary-clinton-2016/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4012985/joe-biden-hillary-clinton-2016/"},"headline":"Biden Unsure He Has the 'Emotional Fuel' for a Presidential Campaign","datePublished":"2015-08-27T13:54:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:29:23.958Z","description":"His son died of brain cancer in May","url":"https://time.com/4012985/joe-biden-hillary-clinton-2016/","keywords":["Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","Joe Biden"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa9266f39576f96c/69886129cd1bba6d0f6fce94/joe-biden3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa9266f39576f96c/69886129cd1bba6d0f6fce94/joe-biden3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Joe Biden","caption":"Joe Biden","creditText":"Brennan Linsley—AP","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":"https://time.com/4012985/joe-biden-hillary-clinton-2016/","name":"Biden Unsure He Has the 'Emotional Fuel' for a Presidential Campaign"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Hillary Clinton Wants Joe Biden to Do ‘What’s Right for Him’","description":"Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that Joe Biden should have “space” to make his own decision about running for president.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/eU3JhS8D/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-27T03:47:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eU3JhS8D.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4012985/joe-biden-hillary-clinton-2016/","duration":"PT12S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4012985/joe-biden-hillary-clinton-2016/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```