Vice President Joe Biden will deliver the keynote address at next week's gathering of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights group, taking the stage just after Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton will speak to group members.
It's not going to exactly be a head-on confrontation between Biden, who is climbing in the polls even though he has not announced his candidacy, and Clinton, whose poll numbers have dipped as more news about her ongoing email scandal surfaces, reports
The Washington Post.
But still, with the two Democrats taking the stage within just a few hours of each other, it will allow leading activists to view and compare the two leaders, who last faced each other politically when both sought the presidential nomination in 2008 against then-Sen. Barack Obama.
Biden has proven to be a "stalwart ally to our community," Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said in a statement about the dinner.
The group had already announced Clinton was to be a major speaker, but her audience will be about 800 guests. Biden, as the prime-time speaker, will address more than 3,000 guests.
The group has not endorsed any candidate for the presidency, and Biden has not yet announced if he'll mount a campaign.
However, Biden on May 6, 2012, declared his support for same-sex marriages in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," reports
Buzzfeed.
Obama three days later told ABC News that he too supported marriage equality. Advisers said Obama had planned to announce his endorsement later that year, but had not locked down the timing, and the LGBT community has praised Biden for pushing the president to announce his support.
Biden's decision on the race is expected early next month, insiders have said, although there is a school of thought that he may be waiting for several large events Clinton is facing, including her
upcoming testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi.
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