By The Bard from Eyes on Obama:
The main things a vice-presidential candidate is supposed to do are:
1. Help the ticket get elected.
2. After the election victory, help the new president to govern effectively.
3. Be ready to step in as president, in case circumstances make that necessary.
Biden is not the only good choice available, but I think he is the best.
A few times in the past on these pages, I have expressed my preference for Senator Joe Biden to be Barack Obama's vice-presidential candidate this year. Just in case Senator Obama reads my blog (and I am not holding my breath for a confirmation that he does), I would like to make a final pitch here for my candidate, Joe Biden.
The main things a vice-presidential candidate is supposed to do are:
1. Help the ticket get elected.
2. After the election victory, help the new president to govern effectively.
3. Be ready to step in as president, in case circumstances make that necessary.
I think that the first point usually gets too much emphasis, relative to the other two. It is first in chronology, but last in real importance. Elections are seldom won because of a vice-presidential choice. 1960 (Kennedy-Johnson) was probably the most recent year where the VP pick was actually decisive. The names of many candidates have been floated this year, and several of them would probably be good choices. Biden is not the only good choice available, but I think he is the best.
He would help elect the ticket. It is arguable that some others might be a bigger help on this score, but Biden would reliably be a positive factor here. He is a Catholic with working class roots, representing a couple of demographic groups where Obama has not established as strong a connection as he would like. While his home state of Delaware is not a "battleground" state in the upcoming election, Biden's spot on the ticket would probably solidify Pennsylvania. Biden is a long standing Washington fixture. Obama's big campaign theme is "change." Biden has been in the U.S. Senate since Obama was about 11 years old, so one might suggest that Biden-as-VP is inconsistent with the "change" message. I would turn that around and say that Obama represents plenty of change by himself. I think that Obama has extraordinary potential, but many people also believe that he is too young and/or inexperienced, and that while he has some appealing qualities, he is too much of an unknown quantity for a vague message of "change" to make them comfortable. Biden represents the idea that change and experience are compatible. Polls have shown that voters widely regard Obama as a more "risky" candidate than Senator McCain. They may like his upside potential but are apprehensive about his being so new to the national stage. Biden would be a comforting presence to those voters.
Biden would help Obama govern. He has been chairman of two major Senate committees. He has worked effectively with Republican senators, as well as fellow Democrats. He is the senior senator under age 70, and he knows how Capitol Hill operates as well as anybody. This is not to suggest that Obama could not have a different vice-president and still work well with Congress, but Biden would be a valuable presence. He stayed out of the fratricidal conflicts between Obama and Clinton backers while those two were battling for the nomination, so he has not alienated any of the factions.
My personal opinion is that Joe Biden is the person I would most want to have step in as president, in the event that President Obama is temporarily or permanently unable to continue to serve as president for any reason. I admit that this is highly subjective, and others could make an easily plausible case for their favorite VP choice. On this subject, I can only say that a good president needs to be a good politician and understand the workings in Washington. Biden's qualifications in this regard are not unique, but they are solid.
His political philosophy is not identical to Obama's, but is reasonably compatible. He is forthright, and he will tell Obama privately if he believes that Obama's decision is wrong, but he also understands the system well enough that, having registered his private misgivings, he can also support the president publicly.
Finally, there is the matter I usually prefer to avoid, but it still gets a lot of attention. We hear a lot of stuff like:
He (Obama) should have a woman, or a Latino, for VP.
He needs to take a VP who previously supported Hillary Clinton.
He should have a VP with great military credentials.
He should have somebody who reinforces the "change" image.
As far as I am concerned, Obama himself is change enough. I recommend that he take an older white guy who is a veteran of Washington politics. My second choice is New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. Ideally, I would like to see Biden as vice-president and Richardson as Secretary of State, but the reversal of those two roles would not be too bad. I just cannot help wondering if having both a black and a Latino on the same ticket is too much change at once, in the minds of many voters.
Anyway, Obama will soon make his choice for running mate, and I expect to support his choice, whoever it may be... but I hope it is Joe Biden.
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