Pick Joe Biden? What Are They Thinking?
By Betsy Newmark
High School Government and History Teacher/Blogger
The speculation on vice presidential choices reached a fever pitch yesterday as Howard Fineman went out on a limb in speculating that it would be Biden according to his sources. And then Biden faked reporters out by first telling them “I’m not the guy.” Analysts on TV gnawed over that for much of the evening, but then, oh the excitement!, he walked that back and said he didn’t know anything about whom Obama was picking. What fun for everyone to have something to talk about when actually the people who know anything aren’t talking and those who are probably don’t have any special insight.
Meanwhile, we’re being told that Biden would bring foreign policy expertise to the ticket. The New York Times talks up that aspect, as does The Wall Street Journal.
I’ve never bought into this idea that the vice presidential pick should balance out the presidential nominee on policy expertise. Does anyone think that a President Obama would lack for foreign policy advisers? Even as a candidate he’s supposed to have around 300 foreign policy advisers. What guarantee would there be that he’d listen to a Vice President Biden more than a Secretary of State or National Security Adviser?
Admittedly, Biden has been around the Senate for a long, long time but is his supposed expertise really that impressive?
