Joe Biden speculation is reaching a breaking point

Speculation is mounting that Vice President Joe Biden's decision on the 2016 presidential race is fast-approaching.

"Hearing more out of Bidenworld that announcement that he's in race could leak out Sunday or Monday," New York magazine's Gabriel Sherman wrote Friday.

Earlier that day, Sherman penned a piece titled, "We Are Already Months Into the Biden Campaign," which pointed to all of the steps Biden has taken to prepare for a presidential campaign.

Those steps included a reported Friday meeting with a major labor official, Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters.

CNN's Jim Acosta reported that Biden "talked about campaign strategy with Schaitberger and indicated a final decision on whether he would run for president is imminent."

See photos of Biden as he mulls over a presidential run:

"The source described the call as one of many the vice president is making to potential backers of a Biden candidacy," Acosta added.

Additionally, billionaire grocery-store magnate John Catsimatidis said during his Sunday morning radio show, "The Cats Roundtable," that he had recently spoken with Biden. And Biden apparently seemed ready to launch a campaign for the White House.

"I was with Vice President Joe Biden last night. He was in New York," Catsimatidis said. "I spent about five minutes with him. I don't know, I think he may run. You never know."

If Biden did get into the race, he would have the potential of scrambling what has thus far been a virtual one-on-one primary race between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).

Polls show Clinton would remain the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination. But Biden could offer establishment Democrats a more mainstream alternative than Sanders, who self-identifies as a democratic socialist. In particular, some Democrats are worried about whether Clinton's email controversies could damage her general-election chances.

But a Biden candidacy seems anything but a sure bet.

The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that though "signs point to him running," Biden "could still pull back, however, if he concludes he is too shaken by his son's death to mount a campaign. Another consideration for Mr. Biden: the fortunes of front-runner Hillary Clinton."

Political observers are left to wait and speculate:

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