Biden, You Can't Beat Clinton— but Go for It Anyway

Some say it won't be pretty if Joe Biden takes on Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president. Dana Milbank, meanwhile, writes in the Washington Post that he doesn't think the VP will end up running, and that even if he does, he wouldn't beat Clinton. But in a surprising swerve, Milbank still thinks Biden should run, with a reasoning suggested to him by a "Biden lieutenant." "The vice president could serve as a stalking horse," Milbank writes. "His entry would shake up the race and thereby lower the barriers for other, potentially better-positioned candidates to join the fray."

Among his suggested possible contenders, some of whom have already thrown their support behind Clinton but who may reconsider if they see the field is still open to newcomers: Al Gore, John Kerry, Michael Bloomberg, and Elizabeth Warren; there are quite a few other possibilities including Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, and HUD Secretary Julian Castro. It's not too late in the race, either, Milbank claims, noting that most of President Obama's 770 top fundraisers haven't sworn their allegiances to Clinton yet, and that if newcomers jump in soon, they'll be just in time for the upcoming debates starting in October. Read Milbank's full column here. (More Joe Biden stories.)