NBC News: What Biden Can (And Can't) Do as He Mulls a 2016 Run

"To test the waters, the first thing you have to do is raise the money," says Larry Noble, the senior counsel at the Campaign Legal Center and former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission. ...

Under election campaign law, prospective presidential candidates can test the waters (travel, make phone calls, conduct polls) to determine a campaign's viability - without reporting it publicly. The theory behind "testing the waters," according to Noble, was to allow politicians to explore the possibility of a presidential run without it being known. ...

Yet how the law is written can differ from how it's enforced, says Noble - just see the 2016 candidates who were raising large sums of money and even referring (accidentally) to themselves as candidates before they announced their presidential bids.

To read the full story at NBC News, click here.