The Note: Joe Biden Prompts (In)Decision Frenzy

ByABC News
October 20, 2015, 9:02 AM
Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a roundtable discussion at the Advanced Manufacturing Center at Community College of Denver,  July 21, 2015.
Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a roundtable discussion at the Advanced Manufacturing Center at Community College of Denver, July 21, 2015.
Brennan Linsley/AP Photo

— -- NOTABLES

---WILL HE OR WON'T HE? The speculation about whether Vice President Joe Biden will enter the 2016 race has reached a fever pitch as supporters, reporters and political prognosticators weighed in on his intentions, ABC's JONATHAN KARL, RICK KLEIN and ARLETTE SAENZ report. ABC News has learned a longtime associate of Biden's inquired about renting available office space in downtown Washington for a possible presidential campaign. But that associate acknowledged to ABC News that he was asking about office space on his own, without guidance or permission from the vice president or his current political team. The associate, who requested anonymity, is among those who think Biden is likely to run, but not based on a direct signal from Biden himself. People who have spoken to Biden and those close to him in recent days have emerged with a general consensus that he's moving toward a run, but that he still has not made up his mind to declare his candidacy. http://abcn.ws/1OPgGns

--TESTING OUT THE MESSAGE? Biden's supporters have acknowledged the odds would be stacked against him -- starting so late with no money, no campaign organization and way behind in the polls. While he weighs his options, the vice president may have been testing out campaign messages about his potential Democratic opponents -- Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. "I'm not one of these guys - you know, 'Let's go after the rich and the powerful and they're the problem. They're not a problem. But everyone has to do their part, man!" he said in a speech at the White House, a subtle reference to Sanders. "I don't consider Republicans enemies. They're friends," the vice president said in the same speech, just one week after Clinton cited "the Republicans" as the enemy she's most proud of. The two jabs may have been further clues about how serious Biden is about enter the 2016 race, but the bottom line is the only person who really knows when he's deciding is the man whose decision it is to make -- Biden. http://abcn.ws/1OPgGns