Bidens Toasted a 2024 Campaign With Macron at the State Dinner

With another run, in 2008, followed by eight years as second lady, Dr. Biden has evolved into a polished campaigner. Faced with another cycle, she has been telling people close to her that she feels up to the task. Her East Wing is operating as if a second run is assured, according to several people familiar with the situation. But she has also been clear that the decision is her husband’s to make.

Mr. Biden has said — over and over again — that he does intend to run again and, more recently, put a time frame on an announcement: early next year. Both Bidens were inclined to announce a run if former President Donald J. Trump declared his candidacy, people close to them have said.

A combination of better-than-expected midterm election results and recent polling among Democratic voters has left administration officials and allies of the White House feeling bullish that Mr. Biden will pursue another term. A USA Today-Ipsos poll released in late November showed that a large share of Democratic voters now say that Mr. Biden could win in 2024 should he decide to run.

“I think the White House and President Biden have been 100 percent crystal clear that he’s running for election,” Eleni Kounalakis, the lieutenant governor of California, said in a recent interview.

Mr. Biden’s age remains a concern for voters and prominent Democrats, as does the possibility that the midterm afterglow could be fleeting. David Axelrod, a former chief strategist for President Barack Obama, told The New York Times last week that the results were a “a little giddy up” for Mr. Biden, but that the prospects for a second term could be complicated by the president’s age. Mr. Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term, should he run and win in 2024.

“If he were 60 and not 80, there would be absolutely no doubt,” Mr. Axelrod said.

Still, within both wings of the White House, discussions of “the re-elect” are commonplace, and the president’s top aides are discussing what a run would look like. Those officials include Mr. Klain and Mr. Biden’s longtime circle of trusted advisers, including Anita Dunn, Mike Donilon, Steven J. Ricchetti and Jennifer O’Malley Dillon.

The president and first lady’s children, Hunter and Ashley, and several of his grandchildren, including Naomi Biden, are also expected to be involved in discussions over the holidays.