Joe Biden Says He Doesn't Want VP, Secretary Of State Slot

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann asked Sen. Joe Biden today whether a series of upcoming foreign policy speeches were an "audition" for a future cabinet role in an Obama or Clinton Administration. Biden, a former Democratic contender himself, and the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was pretty emphatic in his response.

Watch his exchange with Olbermann:

Comments

[JacobSinger]

I watched "Lions for Lambs" last night, and the headline for this article caused scene in which Redford & his political science student are debating the student's future, and the student makes a comment about how politicians announce their candidacy for the presidency by standing up in front of a crowd and loudly proclaiming that I WILL NOT BE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.

Later on, Tom Cruise's character does exactly that, so...

...Does this mean that Joe really wants to be VP or Secretary of State? ;-)

[sbeck]

Glad he doesnt want one, because I doubt he will get the offer. Certainly not for Vice President. He is a knowledgeable man, but not right for either of those positions.

[bdl0715]

Governor Sebelius will help with the inexperience voters because she has an executive position now. She can also help bring Kansas and Ohio to the Obama camp.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

I like her record and politics, but boy, her Democratic response to the last (and I do mean last) Bush SOTU was a SNOOZE!

"Join us Mr. President."

Ack.

[nonbeliever]

Good news as I see it. Biden helped get Thomas on the Supreme Court. He has a habit of "telling the truth" when he is on camera and voting or assisting the GOP, in direct conflict with his long blowhard feelings on matters. Democrats who have voted with the GOP need to get out. I'm not talking about reasonable agreement to work together for all of us. It is stupid to vote for people like Biden who assist the GOP, especially when they have stated clearly that the GOP position is wrong. I have the same feelings about Hillary. She isn't smarter than George Bush since she voted for war. I would probably not forgive the war vote anyway but in defending her vote for war she has become more dishonest than I thought she was.

[Horst]

He has one of the better hair transplants in Congress.

[Canaris]

Biden was my choice from amongst the Democrats. I think he's one of the smartest people in Washington. Too bad his foot intersects his mouth with some regularity. Still, he'd be great in a cabinet position, imo. Secretary of State would be a good fit.

I loved how he put the Republicans on notice that their ownership of national security is over. Republicans screwing the pooch so comprehensively on that issue is precisely the reason this independant is firmly in the Democratic camp this election cycle.

[LizM]

It is a national myth, and a dangerous one at that...considering the prospects we have left for the next POTUS...that Joe Biden has a propensity towards the verbal gaffe. Nothing could be further from the truth.

But, you know what...why don't we discuss this...right here and now...and try to put an end to this dangerous national myth.

Why don't you go first and explain what you mean when you say that it is "too bad his foot intersects his mouth with some regularity".

[Canaris]

"A clean African American candidate" is the first thing that comes to mind.

Never mind that it was clear to me that what he meant was "an African American candidate that isn't completely polarizing like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson". We've seen how any poor choice of words is immediately jumped on, taken out of context, and exploited for political gain by everyone, left, right, and center. That one statement is, in my opinion, the moment that torpedoed his chances at the Democratic nomination. I like Joe Biden a lot, and I think he has consistently had the clearest view on what is happening in Iraq, and how to get us out of that mess, but he is no longer a candidate. He still has my support, but he isn't running for President anymore.

Obama's uncanny ability to sidestep such verbal gaffes and even use them to drive home his actual point is one of the reasons he's got my support now.

[jcwtts1]

If Biden is asked to serve he will. How could he not. He needs to be a cabinet level appointee. I like the guy. He has presence, he is a FP expert. I still like Bill Bradley for VP it shores up MO and NJ and NY and PA. It makes Obama more viable in OH.

J

[filo]

I'd go with Bill Bradley for just about any post.

[meanguy]

bradley? heck, why not, since the top half of the ticket is offering nothing more than recycled '72 rhetoric, we might as well reach back to the past for a veep candidate, too...it's a shame, though, that pat paulsen isn't around...he'd be a perfect choice to continue obama's 'policies'

[WIpatriot]

Agree.

[bdl0715]

Right now, I think the best VP candidate is Gov Sebelius.

[shengirl]

It amazes me, how the media doesn't seem able to grasp the concept that a person could do something on principle, they always seem to think there has to be an ulterior motive. You're out for something, playing your cards, trying to get an edge. Biden has always struck me as a man of principle. He felt something needed to be spoken out about, and he did so. Stop being so cynical and manipulative, MSM! Take a good hard look at yourselves.

[LizM]

Thank-you! You just hit the nail squarely on its head! I have been wracking my brain over the past many, long months trying to figure out why the media and blogosphere and electorate so misunderstand what Senator Biden is all about and are so willing and content to dismiss, and otherwise ignore, all that Senator Biden brings to the table.

They simply cannot grasp, as you say, how someone who has been in the US Senate for most of his adult life can act so exclusively on principle with the highest levels of honesty, integrity, and intelligence that are simply second to none and certainly unmatched by any of his presidential rivals in this campaign. Senator Biden represents all that is good about America and he leads the way to achieving the promise of America. Unfortunately, too many people in this country have become too cynical about Washington and politics in general that they cannot recognize this. And, worse yet, they have become so content to settle for so much less than the very best. Americans, it appears, have set their sights so low that they cannot recognize that a Biden presidency was truly written in the stars.

[THISTLE]

Senator Biden was my choice for President and he would have made an outstanding
President. The media decides they want to push, defend, flack for and get on their
knees for an arrogrant, cocky empty suit who has never done anything. Obama has
done nothing in the Senate, except as soon as he arrived there, he started running
for President. The arrogrance of that is staggering. The media started calling him,
"a rock star," and the eager, naive masses drank the Kool-Aid. The campaign for
President is not a Reality Show - but the media has made it just that.
And the losers in this are the American people.

[flyguy14222]

Good for Joe. Unlike Richardson, he sees his role as something more than a glory seeking pol.

[WIpatriot]

Both of these guys should be in the new Cabinet.

[bdl0715]

I agree. Biden and Richardson both need to be in the foreign policy area of the administration.

[JohnTalbutt]

Obvious snarky insult from a troll. You'll have to do better.

[samuraijack]

Damn! And you were on one of the long, short lists! Guess they'll have to pick someone that actually knows what the hell they're doing.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Funny how much Iraq is starting, ad hoc, to look like the Biden Plan.

[Dunnage]

Well, he won't have to worry about turning the positions down.

[JohnTalbutt]

Biden tried to sell an occupation of Iraq that had as it basis the colonizer's myth that Iraq is a made up country that could be divided into three autonomous provinces. The border with Iran is 3000 years old. The Border with Saudia Arabia divides the secular Iraqis from the fundamentalist Wahabbi who could not live to gether in peace. The Turks like the Iranians are a different people with a different culture and language. Damascus and Bagdad have been economic and trading partners and rivals for 2500 years. The only arbitrary border is that of Kuwait which the Brittish created as a haven for displaced Saudi royalty.

Like Bush's empowering the weakest of the three groups to have a government that could only stand with U.S. help, it was another version of divide and conquer.

The U.S. need to just get out safely, but quickly. Obama, of course, has too much sense to listen to Biden but will, of course, not be so blunt as I am.

Obama 08

[LizM]

I am sorry that you understand so little about what Senator Biden's Iraq strategy is all about. Obama, you should know, has enough sense to listen to Senator Biden and takes the chairman's lead on foreign policy and national security issues. We can only hope that Senator Obama is strong enough and smart enough to adopt the Biden strategy in Iraq because that is our only hope for ending the civil war there and for withdrawing US forces in a responsible and honourable fashion.

[JacobSinger]

Okay, LizM, I gotta ask...do you work for Joe Biden?

I mean, if you don't, you probably should, as I primarily see comments from you when he is mentioned, and they've always been positive about / in defense of, Joe Biden.

And I don't mean to suggest that such is improper, but...I'm starting to wonder if their shouldn't be a "paid for by Joe Biden" disclaimer at the bottom of your posts.

To my mind, those who post on this site and disagree and fight and call names and really mis it up, well, that's political discourse, and it's a good and healthy thing, and something that we Americans traditionally have done far too infrequently.

By contrast, those who always post the same dogmatic defense of a candidate or politician's record or ideology...well, I call that a political SHILL.

NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT, but like posts in all-caps, it sure is annoying.

[Dlukes]

Senator Biden was my first choice for President. He is an intelligent man that can bring a great deal of knowledge of foreign affairs to either candidacy.

[JohnTalbutt]

I am certain he will listen to him. I just respectfully disagree that he has anything to offer other than a flawed plan for further occupation.

If the civil war there is so dominant why has it not affected the Iraqis' ability to totally confound the occupation? If you carefully observe you will see that al Sadr and the major Sunni groups act more in concert than in opposition.

I am sure that the Iraqi's after four thousand years of living together and throwing off Cyrus, Alexander, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, the Crusaders, The Ottomans and the Brittish, will be able to manage just fine without our help.

Mr. Biden is an exemplar of the imperialist dream from which America must awake.

[caywen]

Screw this VP / SOS talk. Biden should be President, Obama should be his VP, and Obama should take the mantle in 8 years, fired up and ready to go.

[LizM]

Hear! Hear!

In a more perfect world, Senator Hagel would have endorsed Senator Biden's Iraq strategy to promote and facilitate a sustainable political settlement ( I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me how Hagel could have voted against THAT!) and it would be Biden/Hagel on a fusion ticket that would shake up the political status quo to its core and offer the only hope there is of restoring US credibility in the world and America's global leadership role and of putting the US firmly back on track, at home and abroad. Short of that, we're all up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

[MoreCowBellNowPlease]

Biden was my first choice, second is Hillary and third Obama. In fact I have been praying Biden would run for the presidency for years. This kind of direct and passionate fighter is what we need.

Now for all you Hillary haters out there that like Biden, you do know that he voted for the war too, right?

[LizM]

No, actually...he did not vote for war. Anyone who understands what that resolution was all about knows that Senator Biden's vote for it was most definitely NOT a vote for war.

And, just to be clear...I don't believe that either Clinton or Obama, or the presumptive Republican nominee understands the first thing about what is going to be required to end the civil war in Iraq and withdraw US forces without leaving the chaos of a failed state behind. Not one of these yahoos deserves to be the next POTUS...based on that fact alone.

[JohnTalbutt]

The peoples of Iraq have defeated more than a half dozen empires and returned to self rule over and over again for three thousand years. All we have to do is just leave, safely and quickly.

Whoever takes power after we leave won't be Iran (different, language, culture, ethnicity and history) and it won't be al-Queda (al Queda has never taken over any place that we or the Saudis didn't supply the muscle). Whoever takes over will find it in their interest to sell their oil at world market prices on the world market. The only losers will be Bush, Halleburton, the oil cartel and neocon egos.

Biden's proposal for the three autonomous providences, if possible, would have allowed the U.S. to control the resources of the area as effectively as the client state Bush,Cheney was trying to achieve. Do you know why it gained no traction with the neocons are anyone else? It made no sense.

[Rule Of Law]

Hey Joe, since it only takes 40 votes to defund the war, or hang up further approvals for it or any of Bush's programs, how come the Senate keeps letting him have his way. I'm a fan and wanted to see you and Kucinich on a ticket, but come on...and how are those subpoenas coming on Meirs and Gonzales?