NEW YORK (AP) — On the cusp of another White House run, Joe Biden faces a daunting challenge that could complicate his path to the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination: money.

Those close to the former vice president believe he would start off at a fundraising disadvantage compared to would-be rivals, whose campaigns have benefited from an early flood of small-dollar donations from the most liberal wing of the party. Biden, a 76-year-old lifetime politician with strong connections to the party's establishment, would be forced to rely on an "old-school grind-it-out" plan to generate campaign cash from wealthy individual donors, according to a person with direct knowledge of Biden's thinking.

Questions about money are among the nagging issues Biden is still considering as he weighs launching a campaign. He's decamped this week to St. Croix, a favorite Biden family vacation spot in the Caribbean, to discuss the remaining roadblocks with his wife, Jill.

Biden has long disliked the time-intensive process of political fundraising. But with virtually no campaign operation in key states, he'd need to generate millions of dollars in a matter of weeks should he enter what is expected to be the most expensive presidential campaign in U.S. history.

"He obviously has a lot of friends among the Democratic donor community," said David Axelrod, one of former President Barack Obama's top political advisers. "But fundraising today is turbo-charged by social media. He's not of the social media generation."

Biden acknowledged during a recent appearance at the University of Delaware that fundraising is a major consideration.

"We also are making a decision on whether or not we can fund this campaign on my conditions because I will not be part of a super PAC — and to see whether or not it's realistic," Biden said. "An awful lot of people have offered to help — the people, who are usually the biggest donors in the Democratic Party, and, I might add, some major Republican folks."