Their lunches tend to be unannounced to anyone but need-to-know-level aides, and none sit in when Biden and Obama chat. In Washington, that means that rumors about their conversations circulate faster than reliable word about what they’ve actually discussed — especially when things aren’t going well politically. For years now, many Washington Democrats have been contradictorily convinced that there must be a growing distance between the pair and that Obama must possess some secret plan to help his old partner — and they are in constant search of evidence for both. An agitated game of telephone took off among some of these semi-plugged-in liberals around the end of last year, following not just that one White House meeting but also a handful of conversations between Obama and Biden advisers. As the rumor mill had it, Obama was especially unnerved about the race, which Biden was losing, if swing-state polls were to be believed. Not only that, the 44th president had supposedly urged the 46th to install a trusted senior adviser or two at his campaign headquarters in Wilmington — someone like Obama’s 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe — rather than keeping his inner circle intact in Washington. As the whispers circulated, so did the confusion: Obama’s freaking out? And he wants Biden to hire Plouffe to fix the campaign?...

Though “his anxiety about the election is real,” in the words of one Obama friend, the ex-president’s concerns sounded a lot like those of other top Democrats, according to others who’ve spoken with him. Those who are in regular touch with Obama say these nerves are not a reflection of any particular angst about Biden or his team but of the broader reality: The country is closely divided, the media landscape is fractured, and Donald Trump may very well win. Obama has always acknowledged to friends and worried supporters in search of reassurance that the race is likely to be a nail-biter. Yet he has remained careful about not evincing any specific concern or complacency about the campaign, aware that reports about his feelings are unlikely to help the Democratic cause...

As one of the party’s most popular figures for the last two decades, and still one of its strongest orators, he is almost certain to headline rallies again in September and October, having long ago come to the conclusion that he is most effective as a motivator when used sparingly and mostly once Election Day is in view.