Bid'n his Time: If it's Joe, Don't Ignore his Constitutional Gravitas

Unlike the Republicans, who could not even find a qualified candidate for president, much less VP, the Democrats have a very deep bench. I have written about Bill Richardson (still my favorite), Wes Clark, and even Robert Rubin. If, as the punditocracy seems to be certain, the nomination goes to Joe Biden, we will have a very bright, very knowledgeable, very accomplished, and very effective VP-candidate.

Most importantly, he will help Obama govern effectively.

This article, however, focuses on how Biden helps the ticket in the election.

Everyone knows Biden's expertise in foreign policy. It has overshadowed his equal expertise on the law, the Constitution, and the Judiciary. It should not.

Joe Biden has been in the Senate for 4 decades, and of course is best known for his expertise in foreign policy as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has been a hard worker, a good student, and a thoughtful analyst. Few could match his knowledge and expertise. He has apologized for his vote on the Iraq War.

Foreign policy looms large in this election because of the wars into which Bush/McCain have plunged the country, the weakening of the US defense and economic posture around the world, and the impetus those policies have provided to worsen the threat of terrorism.

Together, these issues produce a great deal of generalized anxiety and unease among the American people that are not well-reflected in polling because, with the exception of Iraq, they are not as concrete as gasoline prices, and thus more difficult to articulate at a conscious level.

Joe Biden's expertise can be a soothing antidote to reduce some of that anxiety.

Another part of that generalized anxiety is also that the Bushes and McCains have broken faith with the American people, changing the fabric of the country from one of honored Constitutional processes, to a growing executive dictatorship. Torture, lying, hiding from accountability, invading privacy -- none of these sit too well with the American people. It may not show up in many polls either because the questions usually are framed as the extent to which one is willing to abandon American principles and processes to improve one's personal safety, as if there were such a one-to-one tradeoff. Again, like terrorism -- real, but amorphous compared to gasoline prices -- the anxiety does not easily emerge from polling, but it is there.

Barack Obama has taught Constitutional Law. In the earlier stages of the campaign, he used to ask aloud whether it were not time for someone who actually taught the Constitution to be executing it again. He serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Joe Biden has also been on the Judiciary Committee, for decades. He has dealt with issues from the Constitution itself to crime, and has been directly involved in assessing the fitness of thousands of judges, and probably all the Justices currently sitting on the Supreme Court.

Biden's expertise in this area can also be a soothing antidote to some of the generalized anxiety that we are losing our way as a country, and need to get on path back.

If Joe is the VP-choice, the Obama campaign ought to emphasize Biden's Constitutional expertise and experience not just his better known role as a foreign policy expert. That would provide two shots at addressing the anxiety and unease affecting the American people.

Reducing someone's generalized anxiety is a good way of getting that person's vote.

Comments

[GASDOCPOL]

sharpstyx

To decide when a fertilized egg becomes a baby is above Obama's grade sounds pretty reasonable to me. Only God knows.

Obama also said something to the effect that it depends whether you are considering the question from a religious point of view or a physiological point of view.

Are you sure you know McCain?
Did you know that McCain's top foreign policy advisor, Randall Scheunemann, was instrumental in getting us into Iraq and as a lobbyist for big oil and the military industrial complex has gotten very rich?
He has been on Republic of Georgia's payroll while an advisor to McCain, who has been acting very belligerantly toward Russia.

[sharpstyx]

My point was that as POTUS you cant say things like"above my pay grade" . In the eyes of the common folk like me, the POTUS has to have the answers or know where to get them post haste. Anything less and you look like the rest of us. Thats unfair, i know but we are talking about the most powerful man in the free world. Its all about perception. We really dont want a regular guy in the white house. We want somebody who is supposed to be somehow better than we are but still understand the point of view of every american. Very unfair. People are tired of being ignored, well at least the bottom 99% anyway.Oh an BTW if i dont vote for obama i wont vote

[Repub4Obama]

On matters of the existence of a soul, I don't expect the president to know. Maybe the the pope, but only maybe. I thought it was very humble of him to tell us that he was mortal and didn't have the kind of knowledge that only the divine would know. For him to declare otherwise (and tell us the exact moment) would be arrorgant.

[sharpstyx]

All of this is really academic if big O cant get his campaign back to where it was in the beginning. I remmeber a carton thing from the bush/kerry election and it said john kerry had more waffles than a house of pancakes. It seems like big O is doing the same thing. waffling, flip-flops "above my pay grade'. He really needs to decide what he stands for and commit. let the chips fall where they may. Right now he just looks like a typical politician, adjusting his stance to suit who hes talking to. I agree big O/Biden would be a force to be reckoned with in the white house, but i also believe "the devil you know....."

[GASDOCPOL]

What is not mentioned here is that Joe Biden is one of the very few people who has addressed the problem of a political solution in Iraq. Gen. Petraeus himself has said that violence will cease when there is a political solution anda military is only a holding action (or words to that effect.)

Iraq was arbitrarily put together in the aftermath of World War One by Great Britain (actually by Winston Churchill) . Strife between the three distinct ethnic groups , Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, has been responsible for most of the post invasion violence in Iraq.

Joe Biden has long argued for a "soft partition" of Iraq. Whether a "soft partition" or complete partition is the answer, serious discussion of partition among the three ethnic groups in Iraq as well as other Mideast countries needs to take place.

The devil, of course, will be in the details.

I can think of no one who is more qualified to moderate that discussion than Joe Biden (although Peter Galbraith is a close second)

Joe Biden has described a very good solution for a problem that he helped to create by voting for the invasion in the first place.

The latter may not be all bad. Barack Obama was clearly against the invasion. The participation of Joe Biden in the political process may induce others who voted for the war to get on board.

[LizM]

The Biden strategy has NEVER been about partition. In fact, what Senator Biden has been advocating offers the best hope there is for a stable and united Iraq and for avoiding partition and the complete fragmentation of the country.

And, we are way beyond talking simply about three ethnic groups and, indeed, federalism in Iraq may not even turn out to be wholly based on ethnicity.

[clevomon]

I'm not sure your information is accurate here. This is the first I've heard that Obama sits on the Judiciary Committee. Could you cite your source there?

[ApolloniaCreed]

He is not a member of the Senate Judiciary Committe...

[LizM]

I couldn"t agree more that we should not let Senator Biden"s foreign policy prowess overshadow his expertise on the judiciary and constitutional issues - especially in view of Senator Obama"s "beyond my pay grade" quip (regarding a part of the national debate on abortion) during his recent chat with Rick Warren. I don"t mind telling you that I practically fell out off my chair when I heard that!

Clearly, nominations to the SCOTUS will be one of the most important duties on the agenda of the next President and nothing will be above his pay grade. And, I might add, Senator Biden STILL teaches constitutional law and has served as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Don"t get me started on apologizing for the "vote on the Iraq war" or we might just have to revisit our conversation on the entire AUMF! I really don"t want to go there...please. I"m just going to let that pass and we can all watch how VP ----- (don"t want to jinx anything by writing in the name!) will deal with that question should it ever come up...and I dearly hope it does. That will be fun to watch!

continued

[ladyv]

Sigh.

Obama was speaking in a religious forum. Any question regarding when life begins posed and answered in a Christian forum requires a Christian to note that God is the only one who can know the answer to such a profound moral question. The office of God is certainly above anyone's pay grade, including Obama's.

Are you being deliberately obtuse or is this an example of the difficulty literal-minded people have with figurative language?

[LizM]

I try not to be deliberately obtuse but I hope you're not saying that Obama will be consulting a higher power when selecting nominees for the SCOTUS.

[bitchslappin]

Biden voted AGAINST FISA. Wow, that almost gives me hope, if he does get on the ticket.

[LizM]

continued

You hit the nail squarely on the head when you wrote about the "generalized anxiety and unease" that is definitely out there and, I would suggest, will mostly manifest itself inside the privacy of the voting booth. And, this is PRECISELY why Obama needs Joe Biden at his side if he expects to not only win but win big in November.

Great post!

[Titonwan]

My thoughts exactly. I'd feel better knowing that Biden was doing a "good" version of Cheney. Kinda keeping Barack guided in the left direction. Sounds real good.

[Zenfull]

My longshot choice is Mike Bloomberg. But, if I had to put money on it, I'd go with Joe.

[MsDoc]

I've been in favor of Joe Biden from the beginning. I like that he calls 'em as he sees 'em, and is not afraid to ruffle feathers. Sen O'bama needs a large, growling attack dog to fend off the over-zealous neo-cons...a man who is not afraid to show where their bones are buried, and is willing to expose and use their many weaknesses.

This, of course, leaves Senator O'bama free to take the High Road and speak to politics and platforms and policy without those nasty little dogs always nipping at his heels.

And, of course, Senator Biden is a man of immense experience and recognized knowledge... a truely nice combination for one's trusted advisor.

One can only hope.

Besides, most people, in and out of government, really like him.

And I would really like to see O'bama name his cabinet at the Democratic Convention. What a nice way to make many people happy and scare the pants off the Repubs.

[JustifiablyParanoid]

Reducing someone's generalized anxiety is a good way of getting that person's vote.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You couldn't have said it any plainer than that. And I mean that in the best possible way.

[dmbaer]

I've always liked the notion of Biden as VP. But I do have one concern, as I know nothing about Delaware politics. With Bidan as the pick, do we risk losing a democratic seat in the senate?

[Doofus]

CBS News says...

'Delaware State Election Commissioner Elaine Manlove told CBSNews.com this afternoon that Biden, who is up for reelection this year, "can run for both seats" if he becomes the vice presidential nominee.

She said the state's governor, who is sworn in on the same day as the president, would appoint a replacement for Biden should he win Senate reelection and the vice presidency. (Ruth Ann Minner, a Democrat, is presently the state's governor.) Whomever the governor appoints would serve a two year term.'

[LizM]

I've got good news for you! Not only will Senator Biden's seat remain within the fold of the Democrats, it may even stay in the family!

[bluegreen]

Okay, you sold me.

I too was hoping for Richardson, but Biden is a great choice as well. Both men will hopefully be part of the next administration as either vp or member of the cabinet. Biden is a compelling choice because we are in a mess everywhere we look internationally. We need people who know a lot, and Biden knows a lot. There's a sign saying, Rough Road Ahead, both in terms of foreign policy and the economy. Things are seriously edgy around here. We are going to need Obama and his team to be both smart and lucky. I don't envy any of these folks for coming in to clean up all this mess. I think I'm gonna start putting them in my prayers.