"Joe Biden, the 'practically perfect' vice president" by Jonathan Bernstein at Salon

[applegrove]

Joe Biden, the 'practically perfect' vice president

By Jonathan Bernstein at Salon

http://www.salon.com/2012/08/18/joe_biden_the_practically_perfect_vice_president/?source=newsletter

"SNIP.........................................

The first job for any Veepstakes winner is to help the presidential nominee get all the way to the Oval Office. How to do that? Most studies have found that running mates can’t really help, but instead can hurt. So the first requirement is that any running mate appears sufficiently presidential, on the one hand, and avoids serious scandal, on the other. It’s surprising just how many vice presidential picks have failed one of these tests (Sarah Palin, of course, but Dan Quayle, Tom Eagleton, Spiro Agnew, Gerry Ferraro, perhaps Bob Dole back in 1976, and others all had problems, as well). Joe Biden? As far as I know, from 2008 to now, no one has questioned that the former chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and two-time presidential candidate wasn’t ready to step in if necessary. And he’s scandal-free — at least so far.

The second job is to actually be a decent vice president if elected. Since there are no particular fixed responsibilities that go with the job, however, there’s really no one way to be good at it. Presumably most people who are elected have some areas of expertise either in public policy or in political processes. Biden has some expertise in each. He’s certainly had plenty of exposure to multiple areas of policy from his long service in the Senate, and that also gives him at least some knowledge of how to get things through Congress. Beyond that, vice presidents can serve as sounding boards for presidents, making their own case but then loyally supporting the White House once a decision is made. As far as we know, that’s been what Biden has done on issues such as Afghanistan, an issue on which he was reported to have differed with the president.

............................................SNIP"

[Cha]

1. Thanks for this applegrove..

I think VP Biden is perfect for his job..Imv, PObama and VPBiden compliment each other. Joe has also said they're friends and it shows.

[awoke_in_2003]

2. K&R for Joe...

he is the real thing