“The possibility that Vice President Joe Biden may jump into the 2016 presidential campaign is convulsing the network of wealthy Democrats that financed President Obama’s two White House bids, galvanizing fundraisers underwhelmed by Hillary Clinton’s performance,” the Washington Post reports.

“A wide swath of party financiers is already convinced that Biden will make a late entry into the race and a sizeable number are now contemplating backing him, including some who have already signed on with Clinton… Their potential support — driven in part by a desire to recapture the passion they felt in Obama’s campaigns — could play a key role in helping the vice president decide whether to move forward on a third White House run.”

First Read: “He’s never been as close to a 2016 bid, and yet he’s still far away: As for Biden, we want to share this insight about his decision-making process after reporting and gathering string as he mulls a 2016 bid. First, it’s a very personal decision for him — it won’t be based on metrics. He knows that the odds will be stacked against him, but he also knows that the minute he closes the door on a presidential run, he knows his political career is over, especially after leaving office in Jan. 2017.”

“Right now, he’s also open to a White House bid because in his previous runs (in 1988, 2008), there never was a demand by other Democrats (and the news media) for him to get in. But he also realizes that if he runs, he’ll be required to attack Hillary Clinton, and he’s never been comfortable attacking folks from his own party.”

“As Vice President Biden weighs a possible run for president, personal issues stand as the biggest unresolved obstacle, with Biden trying to gauge whether his family is emotionally prepared for a grueling campaign while still grieving the recent death of his son Beau,” the Washington Post reports.

“Biden is now leaning more toward running than he was earlier in the summer, though he is still weeks from a decision. He thinks his White House experience over the past 6  1/2 years, coupled with his grounding in middle-class issues during a long career in the Senate, makes him well equipped to serve as President Obama’s successor.”

Wall Street Journal: Biden decision creates dilemma for President Obama

“Major Democratic fundraisers have been invited to meet with Vice President Joe Biden at his residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory after Labor Day, part of a series of conversations he is having with senior party players as he contemplates jumping into the 2016 race,” the Washington Post reports.

“Among the guests invited to the gathering are top bundlers who raised large sums for the Obama-Biden campaigns in 2008 and 2012, according to people familiar with the outreach. The sitdown is scheduled to take place during the week following Labor Day.”

Rick Klein: “Agita does not necessarily mean an opening. That’s an important distinction to Vice President Joe Biden, as he considers a run that would inject high drama and countless new storylines into what was supposed to be a march dictated by inevitability for Hillary Clinton. We know Biden would bring name recognition, deep experience, and a zeal for running that couldn’t be matched. We also know that he’s 0-2 in presidential races already, and that his own worst enemy tends to speak for himself – literally. There may be no moment that’s more favorable to a potential Biden candidacy than this one, with Clinton’s email controversy interrupting the summer only by the utterings of Donald Trump.”

“That’s different, though, than a grassroots yearning for Biden. When it comes down to it, he’s neither generationally nor ideologically all that distinct from Clinton. That means the differences would have to come in tone (check) and, pretty quickly, where he seeks out divisions. Biden is not a natural intra-party attacker, and that could very well be what it takes to defeat the frontrunner.”

First Read: “Every day that Biden waits to create a fundraising apparatus (to finance a sitting vice presidential — with his security detail in tow — campaigning across the country) makes it harder for him to compete against Bernie Sanders, let alone Hillary Clinton. A Biden confidante told one of us that the vice president’s chances of jumping into the race are now as high as 60%-40%. But if he gets in, Biden faces this reality: His chances of finishing third are greater than finishing first.”

“Also over the weekend, Politico wrote that Biden, if he gets into the 2016 race, plans to focus on South Carolina, plus get big Super PAC checks from a handful of wealthy Democratic donors. But folks, that’s more of a campaign strategy for the likes of Rick Santorum and Rick Perry — rather than a sitting vice president. Bottom line: Sitting vice presidents don’t get to skip early nominating states.”

“As Joe Biden considers a possible run for president, the donors he’d need to be viable appear to be ruling him out,” Politico reports.

“Not all 400 people who gathered at a waterfront estate here on Sunday have been die-hard supporters of Hillary Clinton. In fact, many of them recall a rough summer eight years ago when Martha’s Vineyard’s liberal elite split their loyalties between Clinton and Barack Obama. But on Sunday, they were reveling in party unity and had little appetite for Biden to complicate the field, despite their affection for him.”

The Fix: “If he decides at the end of this month that he wants to run, he immediately begins in a $45 million (and probably much larger) hole against Clinton. Super PACs could make up some of that ground, but remember that virtually every major fundraiser in the party — including many who were once Biden people — is now on Clinton’s team. So whatever Biden raises, Clinton almost certainly raises double. Maybe triple.”

Journalist Carl Bernstein says that if Vice President Joe Biden “makes the leap into the Democratic presidential race, he could promise that he would serve just one term in the White House,” Politico reports.

Said Bernstein: “And one thing that I keep hearing about Biden is that if he were to declare and say because age is such a problem for him if he does, I want to be a one-term president. I want to serve for four years, unite Washington. I’ve dealt with the Republicans in Congress all my public life.”

Vice President Joe Biden “and those who support him are moving to put the pieces into place for a possible candidacy,” the New York Times reports.

“The vice president directed Mr. Harpootlian to get in touch with one of his closest political advisers, Mike Donilon, and has been calling other supporters. And he has permitted his advisers to discreetly contact operatives in early nominating states to determine how fast they could organize a campaign.”

Vice President Joe Biden “is using part of his vacation in South Carolina this week to sound out friends and family about a presidential bid, as some Democrats press him to enter the race and give the party another option in the face of lingering controversies involving Hillary Clinton,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“He is asking political allies for advice and gauging the strength of… Clinton’s campaign as he weighs his options… Longtime Democratic fundraisers already have said they would be willing to hedge their bets, which could help him raise cash fast.”

“Vice President Biden would have to clear high hurdles to defeat Hillary Clinton if he launched a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination,” The Hill reports.

“The biggest one? Carving out a niche — and a reason for his candidacy — in a race that is being dominated by the former secretary of State.”