Joe Biden to Hold Unusual Calls With Democratic Party Officials

Source: The New York Times-1 hour ago

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. may not be attending the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting this week, but he’s making his presence felt as he mulls a run for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination against Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders and others who will be speaking at the party gathering.

Hundreds of committee members – whose political networks and support can be crucial to winning the nomination – were invited on Tuesday to an unusual conference call with Mr. Biden to discuss the Iran nuclear deal. According to the invitation, Mr. Biden will “discuss the provisions of the agreement” during the conference call, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, a day before the party members begin their conclave in Minneapolis. Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Sanders and other Democratic presidential candidates are scheduled to speak at the party’s session on Friday.

Two committee members who received the invitation said that they could not remember a conference call before with Mr. Biden on a foreign policy issue – and added that they took it as a sign that, at the least, he wants to make sure he is on the political radar of party members before they hear from Mrs. Clinton and others on Friday. The White House has held policy briefings with committee members from time to time, including one recently on trade. A spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee declined to comment on the Biden call.

Supporters of Mr. Biden will also be a force at the meeting. According to an email to party members from Draft Biden, a group encouraging Mr. Biden to run for president, four informal briefings will be held on Thursday and Friday at the Minneapolis Hilton, where the party meeting is taking place. Joshua Alcorn, senior adviser to Draft Biden, wrote in the email that he “wanted to share with you Draft Biden’s thoughts on the 2016 Democratic Primary,” according to a copy of the email that Democratic committee members shared with the Times.


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