Getty Black lawmakers give Joe Biden a warm reception

Vice President Joe Biden's last-minute decision to score some facetime with powerful black leaders may do little to shake their strong inclination toward Hillary Clinton. But among the rank-and-file attendees at Saturday's prayer breakfast hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the Democratic primary is still a wide open fight.

Biden earned several warm ovations from the admiring crowd, and he held court for 20 minutes while breakfast was served, posing for selfies with dozens of fans and turning on his classic, toothy charm as he clasped hands with well-wishers and slapped the backs of strangers angling to get close to him.


If his appearance was a trial balloon for a presidential bid, the message from attendees would do little to dissuade him.

“I think that we should have a chance to choose from among a good variety of candidates,” said Jim Baker, a management consultant from Philadelphia who said he’s ridden the Amtrak with Biden. “Choice is better than only one option. He’s a great man.”

As Biden inches closer to a presidential bid, his relationship with the black community could be an instructive bellwether. African Americans remember the presidency of Bill Clinton fondly, and Hillary Clinton's own advocacy and work for the community has helped her capture the support of a majority of black lawmakers and solid backing in polls of black voters.

But attendees at the event told POLITICO that younger voters who didn't come of age in the Clinton years have less of a connection to the former First Lady and secretary of state. Biden, as vice president in the administration of the first black president, may engender a lot of support for his role as Barack Obama's top ally.

"I like Hillary but I’m not at this point saying I’m going to vote for her," said Katrina McCree, who traveled to the conference from Detroit. "I want to see all the information. I want to be able to evaluate all the candidates."

Even without the sheen of his relationship with Obama, some attendees said Biden could win over the black community in his own right.

"He stands alone. He’s had a reputation before he hooked up with Obama," said Denise Barksdale, another attendee. "But it’s enhanced it, being the vice president with Obama."

It's no certainty that Biden will run -- he's suggested that his family is still reeling from the death of his son Beau and that it's too soon to make a decision.

"He looks tired," said Michael Warren, another attendee, who said he's not sure if he'd prefer Biden to Clinton or any other candidate. "I don’t know if he has it in him. He might want to do it, but when I looked at him today, he looked tired. You're asking him to weather some storms just to sit in the White House."

While Biden decides whether to run, Clinton has shored up her support with black leaders in Congress -- from New York Rep. Charlie Rangel to Missouri Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver -- many of whom indicated this week that a Biden candidacy would do little to change their minds.

Those same lawmakers were seated just a few feet from Biden Saturday, cordoned off from reporters and other guests by velvet ropes as they listened to gospel music and speeches from colleagues and community leaders who decried a sense of racial injustice in America. Also among them was Martin Luther King, III, son and namesake of the civil rights leader. He told POLITICO that Biden would fare well if he decided to run.

"He’d be welcomed by the Democratic community in general. He’s been a very good vice president. I think he’d do well," King said. Asked whether his association with Obama would help him in the black community, King added, "I don’t think he has a greater relationship than Hillary Clinton ... I think he has a relationship also."

In general, attendees displayed similarly cautious attitudes about the two Democratic titans, noting that Democrats would likely be happy with either as their nominee.

"I think they’re both viable candidates and you want the voters to have choice. Have a good competition," said Carla Robinson, an attendee from Chicago. "That’s what you really want to make the candidates as viable as possible."

Another attendee noted, however, that unlike Clinton, Biden can fully embrace the Obama legacy without looking for points of differentiation or dispute -- a factor that could ingratiate Biden to Obama supporters and the black community.

"Hillary tries to distance herself from the president. He doesn’t have to do that," said the attendee, who asked not to be identified because of his business relationships with Washington-based clients. "He can embrace him."