Vice President Joe Biden took a major step toward jumping into the presidential fray Monday by officially receiving President Barack Obama's "blessing" to run.
CNN cites an unnamed "senior Democrat" who said that in a lunch meeting Monday at the White House Biden asked for and received Obama's "blessing" to enter the 2016 presidential contest. While the president did not directly advise him to announce his candidacy, he "made clear he would not stand in his way or counsel him against a run."
The huddle follows another significant meeting over the weekend between the vice president and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a move many analysts are taking as a signal that Biden is considering asking the progressive favorite to be his running mate.
According to CNN, Biden is following his sit-downs with Warren and Obama by holding a confidential meeting with some particularly important political players to discuss "how - not whether -- Biden could run":
The Vice President was expected to huddle at his residence Monday night with Anita Dunn and Bob Bauer, the husband-and-wife team who have been at Obama's side for much of the last decade, two people familiar with the meeting told CNN. Steve Ricchetti, the Vice President's chief of staff, was also expected to attend. [...]
Dunn, a former White House communications director, and Bauer, a longtime lawyer to Obama, were among those invited to a meeting at the Naval Observatory in Washington. Ted Kaufman, a loyal Biden confidant who briefly occupied his Senate seat from Delaware, was also among those gathering to discuss how -- not whether -- Biden could run, if he decides to do so.
