Joe Biden does not plan to participate in the first Democratic presidential debate Tuesday night, but the invitation remains open to the vice president should he make a last-minute decision to jump in the race and join his would-be Democratic rivals on the debate stage.
While all indications are that the reserved podium will go unused Tuesday night, the political world is watching in anticipation as the vice president continues a debate of his own, within the privacy of his Delaware home, in deliberating whether to mount a White House bid.
It had been expected that Biden would convene a family meeting to reach his final decision this weekend, which is why a pack of journalists have spent the weekend staking out the vice president's Delaware home, looking for any clue of the anticipated meeting.