Don't Put a Muzzle on Biden

So Senator Joe Biden is the pick. The wait for the text message is over. Everyone can go back to their business.

The temptation for Barack Obama's team will be to keep Biden on a short leash, as the pundits have been advising. Senator Biden is notorious for speaking before he thinks, which often gets him into trouble and has plagued his political career. In 2006, for example, Biden displayed made an exceptionally insensitive comment when he said, in front of C-SPAN cameras, "in Delaware, the largest growth of population is Indian Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7/11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I am not joking."

Biden's penchant for poorly-thought out remarks violates an important characteristic for vice presidential candidates in this 24 hour, instant media age--pick someone who won't make an embarrassing mistake and turn into a liability for the campaign.

But Biden's quick verbal skills can be an asset for Democrats, and they should risk giving him room to speak his mind. The fact is that Democrats have not had a good "attack dog" as their vice presidential nominee for a long time. Just think of 2004, when Senator John Edwards sat there in a televised debate with his polished smile as Vice President Cheney systematically eviscerated his record and the Democratic Party in general.

Biden is a different kind of vice presidential candidate. During this campaign, Biden has offered some of the most biting comments about how Republicans have conducted the war on terrorism and foreign policy. In one debate, Biden offered a devastating critique of then Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani--and implicitly the entire Republican Party--when he said that all of Giuliani's sentences consisted of "a noun, a verb, and 9/11." Biden has called Bush's administration the "worst" in modern history with regards to foreign policy and argues that "every single thing they've touched has been a near disaster." He has been equally tough in his criticism of Senator John McCain. "The administration's policy and John McCain's view-- and I love him--are abject failures. We have never been weaker in relative terms than we are today," Biden said of their foreign policies.

This is the election when Democrats have the opportunity to go on the attack. The incumbent president is overwhelmingly unpopular, the economy is facing tough times, there is real confusion and uncertainty in foreign policy, and the Republican candidate only has tepid support from key factions in his own party.

From a strategic perspective, this is not the time for Democrats to play nice. Biden is the perfect candidate to take on this challenge, a man with a wealth of foreign policy expertise and political experience, yet a hardened politician who is willing to be as aggressive with the GOP as they have been with Democrats in recent elections. Democratic operatives should take the risk and give Biden some room to say the things that Obama himself probably can't say.

Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. He is the co-editor of "Rightward Bound: Making America Conservative in the 1970s" (Harvard University Press) and is completing a book on the history of national security politics since World War II.

Comments

[harriscrl3]

I dont think Biden was chosen so that he can be muzzled I think he was chosen so that he can be let loose to attack. I notice he started in on McCain in his speech. Yes keep it coming I say.

Carol

[dromios]

To muzzle Joe Biden would be equivalent to adding ankle weights to your star running back. Essentially counter productive if you want your side to win.

[Jazzylady26]

that's right, don't muzzle the man who proclaimed obama the only clean and intelligent african american in the country. right.

[LongBeachDave]

I don't remember the word "only" ever appearing in that quote. But then again, accuracy from trolls is never expected.

[StillAmused]

Bet it was worth the wait when your wounded, longsuffering victim alarm went off... probably never occurred to you that, as he later clarified, Biden obviously meant POLITICALLY CLEAN.

... and how 'bout those overtly racist 'Stop' signs in Black neighborhoods! What's THAT about?

[Bronxcutie]

That's not what he said and you know it! I am black and I was not offended.

[swift goat pet for truth]

So it is not what Joe said. So what?

Gore never said he invented the internet.

The GOP lies. It is what they do best.

[CaptainStormfield]

I just heard the tape of that statement today and its not exactly what he said. If you can listen to the whole statement and see if you still think thats what he stated. Cheers :)

[ranchosx]

as a delawarean i like joe's no BS approach and i think it is his strong suit

[slaxx]

biden's straight-f­orwardness might bother some people but others find it refreshing. personally, i like joe's honesty and bluntness. he never comes across as, nor is he, a phony.

i too worry that the obama camp will want to silence him for his history of gaffes and uncouth comments and because they don't want him to upstage obama (and i also think that biden may naturally silence himself because it's obama's candidacy that's on the line, not his), but i also think its important that they let joe give his opinion and say what's on his mind. he really is mccain's worst nightmare.

[optech007]

McCain should pick Clarence Thomas as his VP. He's the only person who has ever been able to make Joe Biden shut up.

[LeonBNJ]

I wouldn't put a muzzle on Joe Biden, but I would have advisors in the campaign to keep him on message and to avoid innappropiate comments.

[atienne]

I agree with the article! Biden is old school and sometimes doesn't speak in this politically correct world. But the Dems HAVE to fight back hard! As a Democrat, I'm all for fighting for what I believe in and standing up to injustices!

You don't have to cheat, lie and steal. Telling it like it is will work just fine and never, ever back down. I hope Biden brings that to this campaign. There's no need for him to go soft, we'll take him just as he his.

I think they go together well. O is a visionary-young, charismatic and incredibly brilliant and disciplined. Biden brings experience on in the in's and out's of Washington, a good record and he shoots from the hip-which needs to be done against the GOP!

I am SO fired up and ready to go!!!!

[ranchosx]

the repubs will lie cheat and steal which is what they do best. we need a straight shooter

[Jazzylady26]

then why are you going to vote for one who cheated, lied and stole?

[elmoor]

I love Biden! I love that he can politically incorrect-- and I think most people do. I think the media and the repubs will be the only ones offended by hearing the truth. (and I'm sure they will talk about it ad naseum)

And doesn't it feel wonderful to hear Bush bashed in the way that we've been waiting for! Bring it on!

Yay for Obama/Biden!!!!

[drkazmd65]

I thought that Joe Biden was the best candidate running for President in 1988 - if not the most politically correct one.

I didn't think that Joe Biden was the best candidate running for President in 2008,... but he sure wasn't the worst either by a damned sight.

If I can't have Kucinich, Richardson or one of the several Governors I liked (I still love Schweitzer!) - then Biden will do. And he has the right credentials.

[S1m0n]

That quip did Giulliani in. After it, no one took him seriously again.

[elmoor]

Can't wait for the quip about Mr. Noun, Verb, POW.

[Cos1]

It's Mr. Noun, Verb, POW,-SURGE.

[JLee]

I know. Talk about political evisceration.

[ayiticherie]

Exactly.

[Ramirez]

It is impossible to muzzle Joe Biden.

[darker]

It is TIME to TELL IT LIKE IT IS. Joe Biden can do that.

Republicans proved that THEY CANNOT GOVERN NATIONALLY.
Republicans are NOT TO BE TRUSTED.

Republicans = CORRUPTION, DESTRUCTION, DEBT, DEATH.

Republicans DON'T DESERVE RE-ELECTION.
Vote for OBAMA-BIDEN, a winning team.

[zippywpinhead]

for that I am glad

I'm sick to death of watered down, poll tested platitudes that say nothing and mean even less...

[suekzoo]

Woo-hoo! Biden came out swinging!

McCain wouldn't know which of the 7 kitchen tables to sit at.
It takes more than a good soldier, it takes a wise leader.
McCain voted 95% of the time with Bush.
No one has supported Bush more than McCain.

Good ones, each and every.

[THEhillbilly]

The democrats certainly can't muzzle their stronger candidate. Biden and the grandiloquent, done-nothing rookie complement each other nicely. The parvenu is lost without his carefully choreographed and practiced script, and in contrast Biden can think and speak in real time without sounding lame and phony like the rookie does. Fix the oddly inverted ticket and I'll vote for Biden-Obama.

[dulcis]

Why repeat the lie that Obama is lost without a script? There is no basis for it, and I'd put my money on Obama over McCain in that regard any day. And if you want to keep on being a loser, just vote for someone other than Obama.

[Roses]

Oh..then we'll get right on that......­.NOT!


Obama/Biden '08

[hyjanks]

"Grandiloquent, done nothing rookie" may be infinitely better than a less-than-eloquent, done-nothi­n'-but-har­m sitting (emphasis on the word sit) president.

[slaxx]

err...i have to agree.

[fishsandwichesr2good]

That's great advice! Unleash the pit bull. It's only a matter of time before he steps on it. His mouth better get ready for his own foot. Actually it better get ready for arms, legs, feet, socks & shoes.

[Roses]

Oh....you mean like ALL the gaffes that McSame has made? I don't think you want to go there.....


Obama/Biden '08

[zippywpinhead]

tell that to Mcwikipedia, if you can figure out which house he's in...

[MadDemocrat]

Yes, please don't put a muzzle on Biden. That way he can insult the Indian people who own gas stations, tell us over and over again that Obama isn't experienced enough to be president like in the primary debate, tell us that McCain would be a great president like in a recent interview and tell us "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," also in an interview with the New York Observer. No muzzle, no victory for the Dems in 08.

[JimR]

How did he insult Indian people? He made an observation, that's all. Indians DO own 7/11s and Dunkin Donuts. That's a fact.

Your view represents the timid, try to please everybody approach Democrats have taken in the past, the approach that has led to loss after loss.

[slaxx]

from what i recall he said that to an indian man. it was obviously a joke. out of being in the public eye for 30 years, the most they can come up with is a couple gaffes. obama and mccain have made more gaffes just in this campaign alone. and hillary made the exact same charges against obama. if you chose someone who ran against you as vp, of course they have said things against you. get back to the issues, who will run this country the besr, and who will do what is best for this country - not what's best for their buddies.