Vice President Joe Biden is expected to skip the first Democratic presidential debate on Oct. 13, as he still hasn't decided whether to enter the 2016 presidential race and is reportedly extending his personal announcement deadline, according to CNN.
Several Democrats close to Biden told CNN that he is not preparing for the debate, which will be held in Las Vegas, and feels no pressure to declare his candidacy before then. Instead, Biden is likely to make a final decision in the second half of October.
CNN announced earlier this week that Biden would be welcomed on the debate stage even if he waited until the day of the debate to declare his candidacy.
Biden has been entertaining the idea of mounting a campaign for months and already missed his original deadline set for the end of the summer, with he and his team being swamped with research and battle plans, according to CNN.
As he consults with close advisers and political leaders across the country, Biden is also still trying to determine if he is emotionally prepared to run a campaign and at the same time be there for his family as they continue to mourn the death of his son Beau Biden, who died from brain cancer in late May.
"There's far more talk than action," a senior Democrat who has spoken with Biden told CNN, adding, "nothing is actually being done yet."
Even with Biden's uncertainty, he beat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in a recent Bloomberg national poll and came within eight points of front-runner Hillary Clinton. In RealClearPolitics' average of the five most recent polls, Biden places third with 20 percent, behind Sanders with 27.6 percent and Clinton with 40.8 percent.
"If you would have asked me several months ago, I would have said he should decide by the beginning of October," Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware told CNN. "But as time goes by, his numbers continue to improve and more and more people want him to run. I don't think he has to do something this week. This month? Yeah."
