Don't Dump Biden — He's Just What the Ticket Needs

As of Wednesday, May 23, 2012

In a May 18 column, Fred Wolferman suggested President Obama should “dump” Joe Biden and name Hillary Clinton as vice president. I could not disagree more.

In the spirit of absolute transparency, I confess that I once worked for Joe Biden. What he stood for and what he said drew me into the exciting world of politics. While I left Washington jaded by the process and often disappointed by the people, I had arrived there bright-eyed and energetic. I believed Joe Biden when he said we could bend history — just a little bit.

Although clearly biased, I believe my position is informed and well thought out.

With all due respect, I am afraid the writer has fallen into the armchair obsession with Hillary Clinton. Liberals think she a savior, and conservatives think she is the devil incarnate. She is neither.

Some argue an Obama/Clinton team would be a dream ticket. Personally, I think it would be a nightmare.

Mr. Wolferman’s column contends that Obama will need Clinton on the ticket to secure the female vote. First of all, that assumes women vote strictly by gender and no other reason. Secondly, on the issues that do effect women disproportionately, Obama tends to side with the position taken by women. Polls consistently show the president with comfortable leads over Mitt Romney among women voters.

To say this more directly: Obama does not need a woman on the ticket to get women’s votes.

The other reason why Obama should keep Biden on the ticket is his appeal to blue-collar families and voters. He is quite honestly of them. His positions did not need to be cooked up by some political operative or get formed as the product of polling. He gets it, and they get him.

He is middle class to the very core of his being. If the Republicans want the economy to be the determining factor in how struggling Americans cast their vote, who better to stand beside the president than Joe Six-Pack?

I have not spoken to the vice president in many years. And, truth be told, he probably would not remember me by name. But he would know I was an old friend and flunky. He might know that I played touch football and drank beer with his sons. He might remember I escorted his sweet mother into a banquet room at the National Press Club to hear her “Joey” speak.

When last I saw him in person, it was just as the 2008 campaign was under way and he had stumbled before ever leaving the starting gate. Shaking my hand and grabbing my shoulder with the other, he pulled me close and above the din of a noisy room said, “You are always here for us Bidens. Thanks, Sport.”

I vowed to never write about politics again. I left that world behind when I moved here from Washington three years ago. It was a world of campaigns and elections, of PAC donations, and various forms of arm-twisting. I lurked on the periphery of power for more than 20 years. It was fun at first, but then not so much.

Being a recovering influence peddler, I had a hard time giving it up and wrote few columns in this space that garnered angry hate mail from someone’s grandmother to my home. Even very close friends wrote scathing letters to the editor repudiating my position.

If you have never gone on The Pilot’s website and taken a look at the blogging world that follows a column such as this, you are in for a treat. And after you have waded through all the vitriol, you will be badly in need of some quality time with a puppy or a kitten.

Biden’s propensity for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time has followed him for many years. Most, I am sure, have forgotten he was once known as a silver-tongued orator. He does have the propensity to get overly excited — like a golden retriever in the living room, jumping all over the place trying to love everyone to death and knocking cups and glasses off the coffee table. Nevertheless, he brings much to the political table.

Finally. Let’s be honest — if you were Barack Obama, would you hand the the White House keys to Hillary AND Bill?

Chris Larsen, who formerly worked in public relations and lobbying in Washington, lives in Southern Pines. Contact him at cdlars42@gmail.com.

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The_AnonymusProfit 1 year ago

Interesting letter, though nothing Obama does can save him.

Easygoing 1 year ago

Great column. Whether you agree with Chris or not it goes to show there are a number of thoughtful, intelligent, experienced and articulate people living in our communities. Would that they could be better heard (and we would stop yelling and listen) we would all be better off.

Bentpan 1 year ago

I can see where Democrats would consider Biden an important part of the Obama/Biden ticket, It seems whenever the President starts looking self involved, inept and/or out right incompetent ( which unfortunately is all to frequently), along comes The Gaffemaster, VP Biden to deflect attention and let us know, it could be worse.

DaveyNC 1 year ago

Great timing, as today Sheriff Joe dropped his latest faux pas on us: http://goo.gl/au89j He may be of the blue collar types, but a few decades in Washington seem to have whitened his collar up a good bit.

I, for one, would like to see more people in Washington who don't have law degrees. It seems that most Democrat Presidential candidates are lawyers (Obama, Clinton, Kerry) while most of the recent Republican candidates come from more varied business careers (Romney, W, Reagan). McCain doesn't really fall into either category, though he probably has more in common with Biden than any of the others. That is to say, a career politician.

And yes, Biden was known as quite the silver tongued orator right up until he got caught orating someone else's orations.

clarabelle 1 year ago

too funny.......Biden looks like Einstein compared to most republican politicians

DaveyNC 1 year ago

Well, clarabelle, let's just compare ol' Joe's education to some currently prominent Republicans.

This is from Joe's Wikipedia page: "Academically, Biden was undistinguished,[10] but he was a natural leader among the students.[16] He graduated in 1961.[13] Biden attended the University of Delaware in Newark, where he was more interested in sports and socializing than in studying,[10] although his classmates were impressed by his cramming abilities.[15] He played halfback with the Blue Hens freshman football team,[14] but he dropped a junior year plan to play for the varsity team as a defensive back, enabling him to spend more time with his out-of-state girlfriend.[14][17] He double majored in history and political science and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1965,[1] ranking 506th of 688 in his class."

And from Romney's: eh, too much to cut and paste here. Just read it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Rom... Granted, it reads like it was written by a campaign consultant, but facts is facts. Graduated cum laude, top 5% of his class. That is, not the bottom 5%.

Howzabout a little Gingrich: "Gingrich received a B.A. degree in history from Emory University in Atlanta in 1965. He then proceeded to earn an M.A. (1968) and Ph.D. (1971) in modern European history, both from Tulane University in New Orleans.[18] He spent six months in Brussels in 1969–70 working on his dissertation, "Belgian Education Policy in the Congo 1945–1960".[19] In 1970, Gingrich joined the history department at West Georgia College as an assistant professor. In 1974 he moved to the geography department and was instrumental in establishing an interdisciplinary environmental studies program."

And finally, that dolt Herman Cain: "Cain grew up in Georgia[8] and graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics. Accepted for graduate studies at Purdue University, Cain received a Master of Science in computer science there in 1971,[9] while he also worked full-time as a ballistics analyst for the U.S. Department of the Navy as a civilian.[10] After completing his master's degree from Purdue, Cain left the Department of the Navy and began working for The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta as a computer systems analyst. In 1977, he moved to Minneapolis to join Pillsbury,[42] soon becoming director of business analysis[43] in its restaurant and foods group in 1978"

Yep, let's start calling him Joe Einstein.