From WNYC in New York, this is on the media. I'm Bob Garfield.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone. Sometimes when the messiness of the world gets us down, we seek release in fiction.

You know, the perfect politician, the ideal president.

And yet eventually, that bubble must burst.

You know what I mean.

And so without further ado, we start the show with something of an election 2016,

requiem for a fictional candidate, Vice President Joe Biden.

Unfortunately, I believe we're out of time,

the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination.

What a long, strange trip it's been for the sometimes surging,

sometimes lagging, never-existing Biden campaign.

It all began late this summer when the media breathlessly announced that the vice president had not made a formal announcement that he was entering the ring.

Speculation is growing this morning that Vice President Joe Biden could soon announce he's running

for president. This amid Hillary Clinton's declining poll numbers and a growing team.

That was August.

Suddenly the possibilities seemed boundless.

The polling interminable.

In the political world tonight, all eyes on Vice President Joe Biden.

New poll numbers show he's riding a wave of popularity over Hillary Clinton.

Joe Biden's still polling very well in some key states and in

national matchups. The latest poll shows Biden moving into second place, gaining 10 points since August.

And adding to the suspense, the all too brief fictional campaign of fellow former

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