Joe Biden Will Not Run in 2016 Presidential Race

Vice President Joe Biden has decided not to run for president in 2016. 

After weeks of speculation about whether he would jump in, Biden announced on Oct. 21, that he would not make a third run for the presidency because he doesn't have enough time to pull together the necessary campaign. 

"What I’ve said time and again is it may very well be that the process, by the time we get through it, closes the window," Biden said during a press conference at the Rose Garden with President Obama looking on. "I concluded it has closed. "

The Vice President's announcement comes a week after a heated debate between the democratic presidential candidates in Las Vegas. Many analysts said that Hillary Clinton's strong performance in that debate, and her adherence to Obama Administration policies effectively closed the door for Biden. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed Biden in third place behind Clinton and Bernie Sanders. 

Biden has been publicly mourning the death of his 46-year-old son, Beau. The vice president's late son died on May 30 from brain cancer.

"Beau is our inspiration," Biden said. "Unfortunately I believe we’re out of time, time to mount a winning nomination for the nomination"

During the announcement, Biden said that he wouldn't sit on the sidelines of the presidential election and would be an active campaigner.

"While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent," Biden said, signaling that he would play the role of party enforcer and make sure Democratic candidates do not run away from Obama.

"This country will be making a tragic mistake if we walk away and try to undo the Obama legacy," Biden said. "Democrats should not only defend this record, they should run on this record." 

He also decried a political atmosphere that pits Democrats and Republicans as enemies. 

"They're not our enemies, they're our opposition," Biden said before launching into a speech that detailed many of the things he would have focused on as a presidential candidate -- including curing cancer and improving education. 

A group called Draft Biden 2016, which had been running advertisments encouraging the Vice President to run, released a statement after Biden's announcement. 

"We are so grateful for the gigantic outpouring of support from hundreds of thousands of Americans around the country in our effort to encourage the Vice President to run. While the Vice President has decided not to run, we know that over the next year he will stand up for all Americans and articulate a vision for America's future that will leave no one behind."

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