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THE LID: Biden's 2016 Shot May be Already be Over

Between Rand Paul’s chainsaw tricks, Ben Carson’s flawless performance in children’s game “Operation” and now Ted Cruz’s use of a firearm to coo
Image: Joe Biden
Vice President Joe Biden addresses workers at the Bobrick Washroom Equipment Factory in Los Angeles Wednesday, July 22, 2015. Nick Ut / AP

Between Rand Paul’s chainsaw tricks, Ben Carson’s flawless performance in children’s game “Operation” and now Ted Cruz’s use of a firearm to cook bacon, we’re starting to wonder if the next GOP debate will just be retitled “America’s Got (Bizarre, Mostly Useless) Talent.”

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’16 AT 30 THOUSAND

Here’s the number we’ve been thinking about all weekend since the will-he-won’t-he Biden flurry began: Thirteen. That’s the percentage of Democrats who said in a Quinnipiac poll last week that they would favor Joe Biden over Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and the rest of the 2016 Democratic field. In comparison, Clinton got the backing of 55 percent of Democrats, and Sanders won support from 17 percent. With all the caveats about polls being fickle, if this survey gets close to reflecting reality, Biden could START in THIRD place -- not second -- if he was to jump into the presidential contest.

And that is on top of the reporting we’ve seen (including from NBC’s own Perry Bacon) that shows Democrats overwhelmingly respect Biden, but are hesitant to advocate for him to enter the race. As one Democrat said, “Joe Biden by every measure should consider running for president.. But my support for Hillary Clinton and the support that she has on the grassroots level is a very deep, personal commitment."

NERD ALERT: We’ll be releasing a LOT more from our NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll tonight at 6:30pm ET.

POPPING ON NBC POLITICS

CAMPAIGN QUICK READS

CRUZ: The Texas senator made machine-gun bacon with the IJReview.

WALKER: The governor got fooled a bit when two 20-somethings posed to take a photo with him and a fake novelty sized $900 million check made out to him from the Koch brothers, the Washington Post reports.

CLINTON: The Democratic frontrunner released a video attacking Republicans for efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.

JINDAL: He has cancelled a contract that provides Planned Parenthood with state Medicaid funds.

FOR THE RECORD…

“It's like a full moon.”

  • Walker campaign manager Rick Wiley to the Washington Post after a campaign stop filled with protesters and counter-protesters.

TOMORROW’S SKED

Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio appear before the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville.

Hillary Clinton travels to Denver for a grassroots organizing meeting.

Chris Christie, John Kasich and Rick Santorum all campaign in New Hampshire.