Biden, Clinton meet amid lingering questions over 2016 campaign

WASHINGTON, July 30 (UPI) -- Political observers are wondering if politics or pancakes were on the menu when Hillary Clinton and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden got together Tuesday morning.

When Clinton, the former Obama administration secretary of state, met the president for lunch Monday advisers said it was a largely social gathering, not a political one. But when Clinton and Biden got together at the vice presidential residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory, there was certainly no shortage of things for the two powerful Democrats to discuss -- particularly their presumed aspirations to run for president in 2016.

While it has been widely rumored both are eyeing a campaign it's unclear how it would shake out. Clinton came within a whisker of capturing the party's nomination in 2008 after losing the historic primary campaign to Obama. Biden ran for president that year, as well, but dropped out early when fundraising and popular support never really materialized, USA Today reported.

Political observers have questioned whether Biden, now 70, could stand up to both the rigors of another national campaign and the juggernaut political power Hillary Clinton, 65, could wield if she formally decides to run again.

Clinton and Biden have known each other for years and demonstrated a solid working relationship on foreign policy issues both as senators and in the Obama administration.

Some Democrats, however, said the cordial meetings between Clinton and Biden was less about aspirations than demonstrating party unity while Republicans clash internally.

"There's a terrible fight in the Republican Party going on and here, for once, it's the Democrats who are united," said former Clinton administration official and pundit Paul Begala.