“Every time I come up here, I feel invigorated,” he said. “I love this place. I mean, this is, this is, where I spent my life.”

Joe Biden seemed to be joking around with a few reporters after a visit to the Senate in order to preside over a vote on a cancer research bill named after his son. Speaking to the scribes after the ceremonial appearance, he waxed sentimental and got hit with a question that was either craftily planted or a complete surprise.

“Are you going to run again?” CNN producer Ted Barrett asked. “Yeah, I am,” Biden, 74, replied. “I’m going to run in 2020.” “For what?” Associated Press reporter Alan Fram asked. “For president,” he said, deadpan. “What the hell, man.”

“What the hell, man?” seems to be evidence that he is just toying with the idea.

NBC News reporter Kelly O’Donnell warned him: “We’re gonna run with that sir, you know.” “That’s okay,” he said, deadpan again. Later, Fram followed up with Biden: “Just to be clear, were you kidding about running for president in 2020?” Biden paused and laid his hand on a Washington Post reporter’s shoulder.

(According to NBC News reporter Hallie Jackson, the pause lasted four seconds, an eternity when speaking to reporters.)

“I’m not committing not to run,” he said. “I’m not committing to anything. I learned a long time ago fate has a strange way of intervening. Anyway, nice to see you guys.”

While it is possible that Biden is planning a run and made sure that the question got asked, the four-second pause gives me pause. I think his last statement, that “fate has a strange way of intervening,” is what is really going on in his mind and heart. He sees that his party has very few strong candidates for national office right now. The bench is so empty that Biden, even though he would be 77 on inauguration day 2021, may be the best alternative for the party claiming the loyalty of the young.

Four years is time to build up a “fresh new face” for the Democrats to hype as the next Obama. Keep an eye on Kamala Harris, elected to the Senate with 63% of the vote in California. She's female, articulate, and biracial (Indian/African-American), and good-looking enough to add a bit of glamor to her marketing package. The media branch of the Democratic Party has a lot to work with, building her up over the next four years. If Soros gets behind her, the sky’s the limit.