Give Joe Biden MVP Award This Week on Obama Foreign Policy Team

Richard Wolffe wrote in his Obama campaign memoir that the president sees most of his challenges in basketball metaphors and that he's turned on by nail-biting contests when he, Barack Obama, can switch things up in the contest and come in to make the key decisions and plays that achieve a win.

But lately, it seems to be Joe Biden who has to be given the MVP award on the Obama team this week.

Today Iraq's government passed a politically controversial new election law allowing parliamentary elections to take place in January and also keeping a drawdown of US combat forces on schedule.

And behind the scenes, Vice President Joe Biden had a lot to do with ushering the US diplomatic and military team as well as Iraq's political leaders over the finish line.

Joe Biden issued this statement a short while ago today on the news of the election law's passage:

I congratulate Iraqi political leaders on today's passage of amendments to the Iraq elections law. Today's vote by the members of the Council of Representatives will allow for parliamentary elections in January 2010, as mandated under the Iraqi constitution. I commend the Council of Representatives for coming to agreement on the various difficult issues of considerable importance to Iraqis.

I also extend my appreciation to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq for its important role in providing technical advice. These elections will be a critical step forward in advancing national unity and forming an inclusive government. Our commitment and friendship to Iraq remain strong.

But the back story is that Joe Biden put forth a lot of hours last week coordinating the key players involved in the election law political mess.

Sources report that Biden spoke twice in the last seven days to Masoud Barzani, President of Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurdistan has been particularly paralyzed over the new election law because of ethic partisanship on how voting in Kurdistan should be structured.

In addition, US Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill and Multi National Forces in Iraq Commander Ray Odierno have been in regular communication with the Vice President during this last week according to senior administration sources and US personnel in Iraq. The Vice President also helped the Hill-Odierno team work through final issues in an "end game video conference" on Friday, the 6th of November.

And White House staffers report that Joe Biden played quarterback for them during the recent turmoil over the on-then-off-then-on-again Iraq election law while White House personnel were in hourly contact with the embassy team and the United Nations.

Not a lot has been going right lately for the Obama national security and foreign policy teams.

George Mitchell's efforts seem to be collapsing in fast motion. Karzai's re-election has done little to restore confidence in America's Afghanistan project. Iran is not taking the US seriously. Hillary Clinton just returned from a painfully frustrating trip to South Asia and the Middle East that seemed to open more wounds and problems than solve them.

But Joe Biden -- who early in the Obama administration was supposed to be a lot of things for the president but not an alternative foreign policy czar -- is turning out to be a very useful problem-solving tool for the president on the international stage.

Shortly before Biden became the president's running mate, Biden had been featured in Working Mother magazine as one of the most family friendly legislators in Congress. The Vice President's team shared this with me then as an indication that the eventual Vice President carried with him a skill set on domestic policy as impressive as what most already saw in foreign policy.

The VP also staked out the title "Advisor in Chief" to the president -- on all issues -- and was asked by the president to chair the Middle Class Task Force which had a meeting just last week reported by this writer. The Biden team also got specific tasks from the White House in dealing with global nuclear materials reduction and non-proliferation, working on some aspects of Russia policy -- particularly regarding the still simmering Georgia conflict and the future direction of NATO.

And Biden was asked to help out in moving Iraq forward.

And he has delivered in substantive ways that deserve attention. He has helped smooth relations and the interaction between Odierno and Ambassador Christopher Hill -- and kept everyone working systematically and seriously toward a positive conclusion of the Iraq election law drama.

We need results like this.

Once America begins showing that it can work with a complex set of actors at home and abroad and can actually achieve the results it sets out for itself, the world will begin seeing the stock of American power rise again.

Excellent work, Vice President Biden.

-- Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note and directs the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation

 

Follow Steve Clemons on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SCClemons

Comments

[ChampLessFuzzy]

Thank you so much, Mr Clemons! Great post. I've read this entry more than a few times, I admit. I'm smiling right now in fact.

MSM doesn't appear to "want" to write about VP Biden's hard work and accomplishments. I love many of his speeches. Biden's gift of foreign policy is what captured my attention initially, but he has stepped up to the plate in myriad issues and programs, swung, and hit homeruns! So, to me, I guess his MVP is baseball rather than basketball related ;-). I think Joe is effective because of his passion about things, about people, about service.He's so loyal to Obama and seems to enjoy his new role, even having fun.

I admit much of the time I enjoy listening to Biden more than Obama, and I love listening to the President's delivery of words. I've heard Biden described as a humanist...I agree...his words come from the heart. Thank you for a wonderful read!

[MalleusMaleficarum]

If only Obama had listened to Biden on Afghanistan!

[andycan]

That's the way to go Joe, not threatening world war every second as under "President Cheney".

[SparkyDash]

Wonderful analysis of Mr. Biden's accomplishments and positive influence, Mr. Clemons! And thank you for it. As others have mentioned, it is overdue.

It could be me, but it seems that many pundits...whether writing of domestic affairs or foreign policy...appear to purposely sidestep Biden's beneficial role in any issue. I read and observe and honestly, I've only been impressed with the vice president's performance and his good-natured attitude towards his numerous programs and projects. He takes each on with gusto and seriousness, yet appears to be having fun... or at least enjoying...each challenge.

Obama chose well. I feel he is fortunate in many ways with his VP pick. This post coming from you means a lot, a significant compliment...you're an exceptional mind.

When I first saw your headline, I pictured Biden with his Phillies' cap slapped on his head, accepting his deserved MVP Award. Now that was fun ;-)

[margoharris]

I guess Barack Obama knows what he is doing when it comes to his "team of rivals". That God that he was elected.

Can you imagine Palin doing anything.....she can wink though and spew nonsense!

Godspeed Obama/Biden.

[johnsopinion]

In spite of a verbal gaffe now and again,
Vice President Biden is a man of substance.

Thank you for bringing that to America's attention,
long overdue.

[LizM]

Well, may I say...Bless your heart!

I just wanted to send heartfelt thanks for never failing to highlight the critical role that Vice President Biden is playing in this administration. You are one of a very small and select group who recognize the value that Biden adds to team Obama, particularly in the realm of foreign policy. When all is said and done, and America's credibility in the world has been restored and its global leadership role regained, Vice President Biden will have played a critical and pivotal role in making that happen.

Your insightful analysis of the vice president's role in the Obama administration is all the more appreciated given the incredible incompetence and ineptitude of most of the media/blog­osphere/pu­nditocracy who have never understood the first thing about what Biden says or does.

And, so...thanks again and here's hoping that this analysis will remain top of the Joe Biden 'Big News Page' for more than a day or so!

I will also remain hopeful, if not filled with cockeyed optimism, that Biden's influence on shaping the new strategy for Afghanista­n-Pakistan and the wider region will be clearly evident when that announcement is finally made.

[S1m0n]

I particularly like the phrase "ethic partisanship". There's a lot of that in Washington, too.

[cheforacle]

This is definitely an important developement. Overdue and important to our ability to remove troops with less risk of danger than otherwise.