I love Biden and think he'd make a phenomenal President...but I really really really really hope he doesn't run.
Regardless of Hillary's plans, I don't want him to run because it's pretty clear that he probably wouldn't win the general election. He'd probably poll better right now than any non-Hillary general election Dem just because of name recognition, but I still think Gillibrand, Warner, maybe O'Malley (for all the hatred he gets here, he's pretty respected & considered legitimate among those who know him in the real world), or a dark horse that we aren't thinking of right now would probably do better in a GE than Biden. It's too bad that we confine ourselves to such a limited group of people when we talk about 2016 Democratic candidates though. 2010 definitely hurt the party a lot in terms of bringing about potential 2016 candidates but the party is also hurting itself in the unlikely event that Hillary doesn't run by only talking about a few people (while the Republicans are talking about literally everyone).
I think I see what you mean about Biden. Gillibrand and Warner could definitely win, whereas Biden runs the risk of losing in a blowout. For a Democratic governor, O'Malley isn't
that bad, at least from my view here in Virginia, but his viability in a general election is questionable. A liberal governor from one of the most liberal states in the Northeast, and the country, for that matter, might have limited appeal nationally, but we would just have to see what happens if he were nominated.
