By USA Today

Published: Sunday, January 20, 2013, 8:52 p.m.
Updated: Monday, January 21, 2013

This is what you might call a Freudian slip.

Speaking on Saturday at the Iowa State Society inauguration ball, Vice President Joe Biden said, “I'm proud to be president of the United States.”

Sounds like somebody is thinking about the 2016 campaign, which just happens to begin with the Iowa caucuses.

Biden was sworn in for a second term as vice president on Sunday at the Naval Observatory in Washington.

We know that Biden would love to be president. He ran for the job in 1988 and 2008, after all.

And we suspect that, like most vice presidents, Biden is thinking about pursuing the top job at the next opportunity.

Biden faces a couple of mitigating factors. For one thing, he turns 74 within a month of Election Day 2016.

The question of whether Hillary Clinton seeks the presidency may also influence Biden's plans.

In any event, Biden quickly corrected himself at the Iowa inaugural event.

“I'm proud to be vice president of the United States,” Biden said, “but I am prouder to be Barack Obama's — President Barack Obama's — vice president.”

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