Biden already thinking about 2016

Election Day 2012 isn’t for another six days, but Vice President Biden is already thinking about 2016.

Appearing at an eatery in Florida on Wednesday, Biden was chatting by phone with a Republican voter when the vice president half-jokingly made his intentions known about a possible run for the White House.

{mosads}“Look, I’m not trying to talk you into voting for me, I just wanted to say hi to you. And after it’s all over, when your insurance rates go down, then you’ll vote for me in 2016. I’ll talk to you later,” Biden said, according a pool reporter traveling with the vice president.

Biden, of course, hasn’t said whether he would run for president in 2016 and has been intensely focused on getting President Obama reelected next week, serving as the president’s chief attack dog on the trail.

But he hasn’t ruled out a White House bid, either. When the veep was asked by CNN last year if he was closing the door on running for the highest office in the land, Biden replied that he’s “not closing anything.”

“I wouldn’t have run for president in the first place — and I don’t think the president would have picked me — unless he thought I’d be good at the job,” he said.

Biden could face some fierce opposition if he decides to run for the White House. Some Democrats are still holding out hope that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will decide to run for president one more time.

— This report was originally posted at 2:06 p.m. and last updated at 2:28 p.m.