If It's Biden For VP, Get Ready For More Talk About Race

It's almost hard to believe there's a single stone of veep-related speculation yet to be unturned and over-examined, but here's one: If Delaware Sen. Joe Biden becomes Barack Obama's running mate, we can expect another cycle of news analysis regarding the impact of race on the presidential campaign.

Of course, on Tuesday afternoon Biden told reporters "I'm not the guy." (LATE UPDATE: A source close to Biden tells the Huffington Post that this has been Biden's stock answer for weeks, and as such is not terribly significant.) But if you believe our own well-connected Steve Clemons, the Delaware Senator may have the cover of plausible deniability, since he's been radio silent with the Obama campaign in recent days.

So, with all the usual caveats, here's how Biden's potential selection could affect the sometimes dormant, sometimes live-wire issue of race in the campaign.

In part, this reality stems from the fact that Biden hasn't always struck the most sensitive tone when it comes to talking about race. Referencing the Indian-Americans he'd met in his home state of Delaware, Biden once said "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent." While the Senator clearly meant to praise the hard work and entrepreneurship of his state's fastest growing minority group -- and was even speaking to an Indian-American supporter at the time -- his comments were nevertheless fodder for embarrassment.

More famously, and even more damaging, Biden kicked off his presidential campaign in early 2007 by describing Barack Obama in highly inelegant, loaded racial terms. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden told the New York Observer. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."

Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama both endeavored to let Biden off the hook, but the damage to Biden's campaign was still palpable.

Given this history, there are several possible ways that Biden-as-VP nominee could reignite the debate between the campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain over race. First, McCain could declare any further parsing of racial subtext in the campaign to be null and void, given Biden's own checkered linguistic past. If Obama were to tread at all close to his talking points warning of racially-charged remarks from Republicans, McCain could attempt to label the Democratic ticket as hypocritical on the subject.

Notre Dame Professor of Political Science Darren Davis believes that Biden's selection as a running mate would bring an unneccessary amount of scrutiny to a topic Obama should actively be trying to avoid. "Obama needs to stay away from issues of race as much as he can, and although he brushed off Biden's comments early in the primaries, he cannot be seen as embracing a VP whom many thought was racist and insensitive toward Obama himself. ... Imagine how much fun the Republicans would have with that," Davis said.

However, it's easy to imagine a somewhat counter-intuitive angle on the Biden-race angle. With many white voters potentially uncomfortable with the strictures of politically correct verbiage, Biden could stand out as a sympathetic figure. As Obama's running mate, he could say, "I know how tough this is to navigate sometimes, and I'm living proof that folks with the best intentions trip wires they don't mean to trip from time to time." Having consolidated his standing as someone who has earned a few scars in the PC-wars, Biden could speak out against any GOP gambits that explicitly attempt to capitalize on vague feelings of "foreign-ness" regarding Obama -- such as McCain's "an American president for America" tag. Speaking as someone who knows the difference between innocent slips and the real deal, he could conceivably have some standing on the issue.

Davis disagreed with that hypothesis, saying that Biden's checkered PC past "would not endear whites to Obama, but it would raise questions about Obama's decision making."

But either way, if Steve Clemons is right about Biden being the pick, it's not hard to see how that could spark some new lines of debate on the race question.

Comments

[DaOne]

Biden isn't my first pick but if the polls say that an old, white guy is giving you a horse race then fight him with another old, white guy as your vp.

This race canard is silly. Trust me the GOP does not want to raise race in this campaign in an overt way. They will die on it in important swing states.

[YankeeCanuck]

You're right about the race canard.
And Biden is an old white guy who can keep up the pace of a young guy. He also could wipe the floor with the other old white guy in a debate.
Philosophically, he's close to O. No matter what, he will play an important role in the next administration if O is elected.
Brilliant as Sec of State.

[ladyv]

He's the kind of old white guy McCain wishes he was.

[Doofus]

Biden would be ok. (PeeWee Herman would be ok!)

But let's get to it, shall we? Obama + Oprah - 2008 !!!

[Doofus]

If Oprah has availability problems, Dr Phil would also be acceptable.

[munsell10yr]

Dr. Phil has ties to Britney Spears, unfortunately. It'd bring up that whole "celebrity" thing again...

[nowRnever]

I'm sure Biden has many great qualifications, probably a lot more than the others. But more importantly (and as much as I hate to admit it), he fits the bill physically... old, white, male.

[reader110]

Not to mention the fact that he "looks Presidential." Let's face it, in this day and age - where physical image is so important - Biden definitely fits the bill. Nothing "exotic" about him...

[Wood]

what's that supposed to mean?

[sparkandy]

The thing is, Biden is palatable to a lot of people who are still undecided. A lot of people who are leaning toward McCain aren't really voting FOR him as much as AGAINST Obama. A VP pick like Biden, who comes across as a sort of regular guy, would feel more comfortable. Then if McCain were to be so stupid as to pick Lieberman, the race would virtually over, with Obama as the winner.

[Doofus]

Logic should dictate that McCain needs a wealthy, southern rich conservative white guy.

Donald Trump would almost be perfect!

[SouthernGuy]

Good point. A VP choice for ticket that appeals to he mainstream is in order. For those who want the polotics of hope and change but are a little nervous, an experienced ,stable, well-known old white guy may give them the reassurance needed to pull the lever. I thought initially either Biden or Wesley Clark would be good compliments to Obama on the ticket.

[ladyv]

I think the old common wisdom that the VP doesn't matter that much is turned on its head like the common wisdom that Senators can't get elected President has been. It's a different world. A VP or a Senator can get more coverage today than a President could get 20 years ago, because there's more coverage period and it's more accessible. The problem with Senators running was never the myth of executive experience. The American people don't get that and don't care about it except to parrot the idea that they're supposed to care. But in the past, Senators were invisible, and Governors at least were known in their state and the states adjacent to their state, and moves they made were clearly moves made by an individual, while moves Senators make just looked like part of the crowd, difficult to stand out. Likewise, there exists enough "news" airtime that must be filled that the VP choices will get all the coverage they like.

I can't wait to see Biden debate whoever it is he debates. He'll wipe the floor with them.

[londonrainbow]

THAT'S IT Y'ALL

It should have been a SECRET between me and O. But let me tell u now. Enough specualation about who the VP will be. It will be ME. I will bring qualifications, experience, knowledge, etc, plus I am not a washington insider. Thats the AUGUST SUPRISE.

OBAMA / ME 08/12

You will receive a text message shorly to confirm soon.

[Doofus]

Whew! That was a close one. For a while I thought it was going to be me.

OBAMA / YOU - 2008/2012 !!!

[mtredstar7]

IMHO, Hillary Clinton is the best choice for Obama to make for the VP slot. She's brilliant, has a huge following, knows the rules and how the game is played and is Obama's equal in every way.

She's the one and with her on the ticket it becomes a dream ticket. Who else has her qualifications?

[londonrainbow]

Lots more are more qualified than Hillary.

Obama/Hillary 08 will not be a dream ticket. At the early stage of the primary it was. Guess what, Hillary's campaign started playing so dirty, especially towards the end when HILLARY played the race card over and over again to win white votes. Disgusting.

[uheardme]

Kathleen Sebelius has executive leadership experience. She is more qualified than Hillary Clinton. Period.

[donttreez]

Choosing Hillary, will be as much as an oxymoron as much as Biden, or even Bayh would be. The message is "change" and those three primary selections are not change in traditional terms. The Clinton's are a household name and but there are too many bodies that they know where are buried. If you know your history you can see where that may lead to after the dual are elected. Bayh is generally unknown to the public, but apparently well known to the check writers in D.C. Biden is a vet of DC like Clinton. Although considered as "more of the same", his compassion for the troops and sincerity in their well-being (search through media interviews for emotion, they are no acts) sets him apart from the other two. He is very experience in foreign affairs and well respected.

There are dangers in all of the above. But personally, I'd go with Chuck Hagle or some other Republican to truly convey a message of "change". But in my opinion Biden is the lesser of all evils from the trio above. We need someone to patch and reconcile the carnage from Bush/Dick. If your going from either of the Trio, I rather have someone who sticks as much to his guns, instead of being politically correct to the point it being a character flaw.

[ladyv]

The bigger problem with Hagel that I see is that apparently Obama is already having trouble getting high profile Dems out and about responding to attacks. If he went with Hagel, that'd get even worse. And the nominees for P/VP are only two in number, and cannot possibly do it by themselves. He'd be left pretty much with McCaskill, IMO.

[donttreez]

What are her qualifications? If my memory serve me correctly she was an graduate from Yale Law, Goldwater girl, member of the impeachment inquiry staff for Watergate, First woman partner for Rose Law Firm, First Lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1992, A member of several boards including Walmart, First lady of the US 1993-2001, failed heath care initiative, failed presidential campaign, not to mention Voted for Patriot Act, Iraq War and subsequent funding.

Just a general summary, there are other "qualifications". To be fair, Biden and Bayh both voted for Patriot ACT, Iraq War and subsequent funding. Continuing to be fair, ALL are unfit to be president, including Obama. But the U.S. Constitution states:No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States. So they all are qualified.

[WFV]

7: How much did you get paid for this nugget of wisdom?

[chronic]

Dont you people realize that whomever O picks this traitorous mainstream conservative media will attack and pick apart?

[londonrainbow]

SO TRUE.

[nowRnever]

I agree chronic. And there is no "perfect" candidate. I think we just have to trust O and his team to make the best selection. I'd say their decisions and choices related to his campaign so far have been spot on.

[veteran1964]

That is why they have spent so much time Vetting their VP. They are making sure that the 'baggage' they carry is minimal.

[mlaiuppa]

Neither Bayh nor Biden will do Obama any good since both have plenty of fodder for the media.

[uheardme]

True.

[vshdst]

who doesn't?

[ghenry]

No, it must not be Biden. Apart from alwyas putting his foot in his mouth, Anita Hill will come back to haunt him. Women have not forgotten how he beat up on Anita during the Clarence Thomas hearings. No Joe, you are not it.

[amazingdays]

Baloney. Biden brings what we need. Don't forget he is the one who kept Robert Bork off the Supreme Court, and rightly so. The obsessive focusing on the negative part of every single candidate's record is absurd. This guy is a hero to Democrats and I am hoping he will be the pick.

But really, anybody but Hillary. If she were named we could kiss this election goodbye. Virginia alone would be lost by the time the announcement was finished. Talk about negatives...

As for the plagiarism nonsense, read his book or objective accounts. He told the story dozens of times, always attributing it to the British Labor politician, then one time he forgot to. That's not exactly stealing an idea. It's forgetting a standard detail due to fatigue. But thank goodness it happened or he would be dead now of that brain tumor. He only took time to get the symptoms checked out, and the condition cured, because he was no longer the nominee.

[ladyv]

Women are not going to be worked up over anything that happened to Anita Hill. For one thing, it's too ancient. For another - and I'm not saying it's pretty, I'm saying it is what it is - she's black. The "women" you're talking about are middle/upper middle class white women. Black women are already with Obama. White women for whatever reason simply do not become outraged at the way black women are treated. Consider the deafening silence over the way Michelle Obama has been treated. These are the same class of white women who pushed through the 2nd wave of feminism, getting themselves out of their boring suburban housewife lives riding on the backs of low income black women who replaced them as maids and mothers to their children. White women of that class have never identified black women as women, yet they have always expected black women to consider themselves women first, black second, even though they themselves considered black women the opposite.

[dora rice]

The guy has not clue, he just acts soo wise. Besides he is a plagiarizer. He once plariarized a speech from a guy in the UK House of Commons and had to give up his presidential campaign because of it. So he is not the smartest guy on the block. Also plagiarized in college.

[AzRealProgressive]

Really? And he could be the next vice president.

[NotMcCain]

It wasn't "a speech". It was "a line". And, since he'd correctly attributed it to Kinnock many times in speeches before, I think it's pretty clear it was an oversight.

McCain's copying from Wikipedia (Wikipedia!!!) for his big "policy wonk" speech on Georgia, on the other hand.....

[notthistime]

I'll finish your statement for you NotMcCain

McCain's copying from Wikipedia (Wikipedia!!!) for his big "policy wonk" speech on Georgia, on the other hand was sheer stupidity.

[clevomon]

Please. He had given that speech hundreds of times, and it was like the one time he forgot to say who said it. Brush up on your campaign history, please.

[uheardme]

"It takes a village..."

Where do you think that's from?

[vshdst]

An African proverb stolen by Hill!

[donaldw6]

I would much prefer it if you left this sort of speculation to the right wing, Mr. Walls. It strikes me that you were just searching around for something to write about. The media may want to replay these old clunkers for a couple of days, but I doubt much more than that. I don't know why you want to sell Joe Biden short here.

Biden may not be the picture of a modern progressive, but he's as sharp an individual as there is in Washington, and he will be a terrific spokesman for the campaign. Besides, his experience will be very valuable in the Executive Branch in so many ways. I don't know anyone who satisfies all my criteria, but I don't see anyone out there who can come close to Biden. Race questions? I really hope not, and I don't expect anything like what you're indicating. Unless, of course, people like you keep bringing it up.

[greginwva]

Donald,i couldnt agree more with every word.

[MargaretO]

I agree. I think Biden is pragmatic like Obama.

[lennix]

the issues the issues please no more of this race bs i am a black man that has been though the civil rights era and i am sick of it and it's seem like the the the news people is keeping this in the news when the real people with real problems what to know what the hee they are going to do about it so stop with this crap and help people and stop trying to make mccain look like he is great by covering it up with this nonsense becuase this is the only thing he has that and what to kill everybody else in the world

[YankeeCanuck]

There are many folks like you, lennix. They know a whole lot more about the real situation than a smartass reporter with a deadline.

So much has been said, so much has changed, and yet some things have not. There are people who may not say the "racist" remarks-- but they act it that way. What's worse?
Watch what people actually do. When it comes down to it, what matters is who has compassion for other people? Who tries to alleviate suffering ( not matter where)? It's not so much about words as deeds.

You're right. Mc Cain talks about judeo-christian ethics. No one religion (or two) has the lock on what's right.
Who has compassion for others? That is the key. Like you said.

[BlueBoomer]

I'm sick to death of members of the media making snide remarks about Biden's "mouth"...

The fact is that in order to interview Senator BIDEN, the interviewer has to be SMART, and most of the talking heads aren't... BIDEN's intelligence and command of subject makes THEM look inadequate, and so they take pot-shots... And the numb-nuts in the public buy into it.

THATS why BIDEN isn't the Democratic nominee, and that's a shame.

[JayDDrew]

Here, Here!
Biden regularly dusts the floor with the talking heads on the Sunday shows. I'm glad he's at the top of the projections.
If you're concerned about the things he might say, geez, look at what the US has had to endure the last 8 years with W. Watching W. talk is painful, it's like watching Elmer Fudd on a bad day.
I'll take an innocent verbal gaff from Biden once in a while because you know his brain is going faster than his mouth can keep up.

[YankeeCanuck]

You've got that right! We've had a walking gaffe-machine as president for the last 8 years.

Biden is eloquent, has encyclopedic knowledge, speaks right out-- for better or worse. He misspeaks on occasion-- he's human! He owns up to his mistakes, unlike our current ignorant, arrogant excuse for a president.

Secretary of State is, I think, the more likely spot for Biden.But if he's VP, I'll applaud.
There are some good choices.

[YankeeCanuck]

I'm with you, Blue. Some of these comments really show a lack of engagement with facts.

[fignozzle]

it is fun to come here and see my thoughts perfectly summed up already.

[LizM]

continued

Granted, not ALL of the media and blogosphere (mainstream and otherwise) feel the need to perpetuate the myth and actually verbalize this message - it is much easier to just ignore and dismiss him, as was done in this campaign. Besides, they didn't have to put voice to the message. They have long since accomplished the task of creating this seemingly self-sustaining myth that surrounded Senator Biden throughout this campaign and which was, as if preordained, gleefully taken up - hook, line and sinker - by a majority of the electorate.

If Senator Biden is not selected as the nominee for Vice President, with Special Portfolio on Iraq, then it will be America's great loss...and that of the world, at large.

[clevomon]

The narrative is only partially right, I think. If you listen to them, they do have respect for Biden's intellect and knowledge of foreign policy.

[LizM]

continued

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people can think that they know so much about Senator Biden when, in fact, they demonstrate - at every given opportunity - that they know so little, if anything at all.

I never shy away from calling the media and blogosphere out on their collective incompetence and ineptitude but they have been very successful in preventing the most qualified candidate from receiving an honest assessment from the electorate and, in so doing, perhaps ensuring that we will be facing a McCain administration in January 2009.

The msm narrative that has given rise to a national myth of epic proportions goes something like this:

'Joe Biden is a gaffe-prone blowhard/Washington insider/plagiarist whose ego and arrogance are second in magnitude only to his love for the sound of his own voice and doesn't deserve to be taken seriously by us - the mainstream media and blogosphere, along with our celebrated pundits...or by anyone else, for that matter..until, of course, we need an expert to help us understand complicated issues.'

The only grain of truth in that is that Senator Biden does speak at length - and the longer, the better - and when he does, people become better informed - if they are smart enough to listen and not mistake a passion for sharing knowledge with arrogance and ego.

continued

[SwingVoter]

Liberals Definition: Cannibal Animals: Animals That Eat Their Own Kind.

This article is a perfect example.

[bridgeworker]

I know. It gets so ridiculous. Sometimes it seems we are our own worst enemies. Who needs Republicans when you've got fellow liberals to do the job for you? Is it envy, some unconscious self-sabotage instinct or some deep insecurity about actually regaining power in this country?

Whatever it is, how about stepping back from your thoughts for a sec and check to see if expressing those thoughts publicly is actually a beneficial act, or not. What service are you really providing? And more importantly, who are you ultimately serving here?

[notthistime]

I agree with you SwingVoter and you Bridgeworker. I am so annoyed by some of this commentary . . .I have to shake my head.

I want to say if you are that worried and that concerned . . . get of your duffs already and go register someone to vote.


Go Obama/Biden 08

[Bitsko]

The man certainly has big-time skeletons in the closet, and not just about race.

Plus, like Ted Kennedy, he is too emblematic of the seventies and eighties. I hope Senator Obama is serious about getting all those old wars behind us.

BTW, can we bury "radio silent " now?

[YankeeCanuck]

What skeletons? Can you back that remark up with fact?
The guy is about as clean as they come.

[notthistime]

please define "too emblematic of the seventies and eighties".

I don't see Obama's concept of turning the page as ignoring people who were from that era - instead turn the page on ideas and policies that simply do not work and does absolutely nothing for most Americans.