Vice President Joe Biden made a stop in Iowa Monday for a campaign event where he endorsed Senate candidate Bruce Braley, lambasted the Republicans and made a vague reference to a possible 2016 presidential bid.

In a 22-minute populist speech, Biden told Iowans of his first thought when he arrived at the minor-league baseball stadium where the campaign rally was held: "Put me in, coach, I'm ready to play."

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With the midterm election campaigns in their closing days and the Iowa caucus just a year from now, the vice president, who is weighing his bid for the White House in 2016, is beginning to reach the point where he has to formalize his decision.

He has insisted he will announce his decision next year after convening his family and political advisers, the National Journal reported.

Meanwhile, the perceived frontrunner of the Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton, has also been working to increase midterm turnouts for the members of her party in Iowa.

Ready for Hillary, the group that seeks to secure her presidential run next election, has been in Iowa in the last weeks trying to protect the Democrats' traditional advantage there.

She dropped by last Wednesday to campaign for Braley who is pitted against Republican Joni Ernst for the Senate seat vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D).

While it has been rumored that the vice president is still waiting for the former secretary of state to announce her decision early next year, people who are close to him say it is not so.

A lifelong friend of the vice president, former Sen. Ted Kaufman, said that Biden would run if he is convinced he could bring in something to the presidential table. Biden sees presidency as a duty-something most people have a hard time grappling with, Kaufman said.

Biden, who prides himself as someone who could easily relate with the working class, denounced the Republicans for their political maneuverings against raising minimum wage and the Medicaid, and for privatizing the social security system.

At one point in his speech, Biden attacked the Republicans, asking who they really are. He explained they are "a different breed of cat."

"They aren't bad or good, they are just different," he said.

At times, he also attacked Ernst whose political stardom is based largely on her likeable persona. She is perceived to be the frontrunner in Iowa's senatorial race.

Biden refused to refer Ernst by name, and instead insisted with the reference "Bruce's opponent," CNN reported.

Vice president Biden was in Iowa to campaign for Rep. Dave Loebsack, who is seeking to get re-elected in southeast Iowa. 

Tagspolitics, Politics of the United States, Joe Biden, Bruce Braley, Beau Biden, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden presidential campaign