Biden's campaign missing one thing: Joe Biden
All the groundwork for a presidential campaign has been laid, but will the vice-president run?
Sixteen weeks after the "will he, won't he" rumours began in earnest, the effort to elect US Vice-President Joe Biden as the Democratic party's next nominee for president is, according to his supporters at least, now missing only one thing - the candidate.
But for voters on the receiving end of a barrage of computer-driven recruitment calls and fundraising appeals in recent days, even this might come as a surprise.
Volunteers across the country have been given a number to ring that connects them straight to potential supporters in early primary states such as New Hampshire and Iowa to extol the virtues of a candidate whose folksy authenticity is meant to be his biggest attribute.
Without even waiting for a ring tone, the software known as "predictive dialer" telephones ahead, and means those making the calls can skip the laborious process of finding someone to pick up the phone and launch straight into their pitch.
The Super Pac will not disclose exact numbers until next year, but at least US$2.5-US$3 million has already been raised to pay for staff ranging from four state directors in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, state communications advisers and, in some cases, field organisers who have already split up into quadrants or regions to build a network of volunteers ready for the moment Biden enters the race.
"I feel like an expectant father," added the 27-year-old Pierce. "We are pretty much the campaign but with just one thing missing: the candidate."
Jon Cooper, a former Obama fundraiser, or "bundler", who acts as national finance chairman for Draft Biden, said interest from other donors has soared since an emotional interview given by Biden to television host Stephen Colbert in which the vice-president said his grief for his recently deceased son Beau meant he was still not sure he had the emotional strength to run for president.
"Each day support for the VP is growing exponentially," said Cooper.
The night after the interview, he received a call from a bundler who Cooper said he had reached out to two months ago.
Then, the Democrat never even returned his call; but he was the first bundler to phone after the Colbert interview, and two more rang the next day.
"The minute he enters that race, the dam is going to burst and there is going to be a flood of support for Biden," says Cooper.
