Vice President Joe Biden, a possible candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, on Saturday made reference to two would-be Republican opponents in the next election.
At a fundraiser for Democratic House candidates in New York City, Biden brought up Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP's 2012 vice presidential nominee, in a speech to party donors.
According to a pool report, the vice president cast both Republicans as extremists but offered them personal compliments. Biden called Paul, the son of former Texas Rep. Ron Paul "a fine man ... a decent man."
Of Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman whose 2014 fiscal blueprint won approval this week in the House, Biden won laughs with his incredulity.
"The Ryan budget is absolutely -- the Ryan budget," Biden said.
The vice president has signaled that he might run for president himself in 2016 despite having twice unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination. A Biden candidacy could pit him against another alumna of the Obama administration, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, should she decide to run.
But Biden himself noted that there were a "long four years" ahead of him and President Barack Obama, during which they hoped to "get some good things done."
