Hillary Clinton is the prime beneficiary of Joe Biden's decision not to join the 2016 White House race, as polls had consistently shown that the vice president would have siphoned most of his support from the former secretary of state.

Biden's move strengthens Clinton's position against her most important Democratic rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, over whom she holds an impressive 23 percentage point lead, according to a recent survey conducted by CNN and the Opinion Research Company. That advantage, however, would have come down to 16 percentage points with Biden in the race, the news network noted.

For news junkies and campaign aficionados, however, the vice president's decision may come as a disappointment, as his absence from the nominating contest will likely lead to a more "managed" race, CNN predicted. Without the gaffe-prone former Delaware senator, "there's less potential for off-script moments," the channel's Eric Bradner and Kevin Liptak commented.

Tensions between the Clinton campaign and the White House, meanwhile, will likely be avoided, CNN said. The former secretary of state has a number of supporters working in the administration, but President Barack Obama had said publicly that he would give Biden room to make his own decision and praised him as the "finest vice president in history."

The Clinton campaign, for its part, is moving quickly and already trying to win over former Biden supporters, The New York Times reported.

Backers of the vice president are split in their views of the wife of former President Bill Clinton, with some of them citing concerns about her electability, the threat of the investigation into her Foggy Bottom email habits, and the challenges associated with the Clintons' political history, the newspaper explained.

But the governor of Biden's home state of Delaware, Democrat Jack Markell, pivoted quickly and now supports Clinton, whose performance in the Democratic presidential debate last week he praised on Wednesday.

"That's 3 for 3 -- you're batting 1.000," Markell said. "[Clinton] is somebody who has been tested. When she gets knocked down, she's going to get back up."