Joe Biden 2016: Vice President Visits Iowa In What Could Be Prelude To Presidential Run

Joe Biden is headed to Iowa in what could be the start of a dark horse bid to stay in the White House.

The vice president is set to travel to the early caucus state, visiting Des Moines on Thursday to tout the Obama administration’s economic successes. Biden will speak at Drake University and participate in a roundtable at Des Moines Area Community College. Biden still hasn’t said if he plans to run for president in 2016, but did admit there’s a “chance” he will run.

“But I haven’t made my mind up about that,” Biden said in an interview last month. “We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then. There’s plenty of time.”

Biden has been aggressive in his statements in recent months, staunchly defending the Obama administration’s record. He has called on Congressional Democrats to bring up these successes as well, pointing to the auto bailouts, stimulus, and health care reforms accomplished under Obama.

“This is our story, the Democratic party’s story,” Biden said earlier this year. “It’s about how government policy can and did change America. And people are attempting to steal that story.”

In what could be a prelude to a 2016 presidential run, Joe Biden also said Democrats have a strong record that have earned them re-election.

“The point here is that Democrats have to stand up,” he said. “You’ve got to embrace what we did. Explain it, be proud of it, stand up for it, defend it. We can’t let the Republican party rewrite history.”

Biden added that these accomplishments have come against a very difficult backdrop.

“To state the obvious, the past six years have been really, really hard for this country,” he said. “And they’ve been really tough for our party… And together we made some really, really tough decisions — decisions that weren’t at all popular, hard to explain. Hard to communicate why it was so important, had to be made.”

If Joe Biden does decide to run for president in 2016, he would face long odds. Biden has trailed both Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in polls, and at 72 he would be the oldest president when taking office if elected.