The other night after facing criticism from Sarah Palin over a perception of Washington as “out-of-touch” with the middle class, a group Palin claims to firmly represent, Joe Biden struck back by naming off his own middle class creds, one of which was an invitation to join him at hometown Katie’s restaurant where he assured us we would find hometown values. That may well have been true, back the in 1980’s when Katie’s restaurant closed.
Lucky for Joe though if we do ask the people in Katie’s restaurant “have you been better off in the last eight years” as Joe suggests, we probably will get the same answer. Only they may well have largely been talking about the Carter administration.
Article 1 of the Constitution does not, in fact, define the role of the Vice President of the United States. It defines the role of the legislative branch, otherwise known as the branch in which Joe Biden has served for the last 36 years.
One thing stood out to me when Joe Biden was discussing the Vice Presidency and the powers it contains in relation to Vice President Dick Cheney’s position on the office. He said:
BIDEN: Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history. The idea he doesn’t realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that’s the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.
He added:
The only authority the vice president has from the legislative standpoint is the vote, only when there is a tie vote. He has no authority relative to the Congress. The idea he’s part of the Legislative Branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandize the power of a unitary executive and look where it has gotten us. It has been very dangerous.
For those not following, the basic notion attributed to Cheney here is that the Vice President occupies a role as president of the Senate and has a vote when there is a tie. Therefore Cheney argues, the VP is not a part of the Executive Branch.
While I am not going to argue in favor or against Cheney’s interpretation, I found Biden’s argument against this interpretation interesting in that he said “he doesn’t realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that’s the Executive Branch.” The problem is, Article 1 doesn’t define the Executive Branch, Article 2 does that.
The following quotes are making the rounds on the internets thanks to some Republican opposition research.
“I’ve been calling for more troops for over two years, along with John McCain and others subsequent to my saying that.” — Meet the Press, November 27, 2005
“The only guy on the other side who’s qualified is John McCain.” — MSNBC, October 30, 2007
“John McCain is a personal friend, a great friend, and I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off” — The Daily Show, August 2, 2005
And a Biden campaign release: “The Biden for President Campaign today congratulated Sen. Barack Obama for arriving at a number of Sen. Biden’s long-held views on combating al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
Senator Joe Biden’s wife Jill involved in car crash in Delaware. No details yet on whether or not she has been injured. Biden’s first wife, Neilia Hunter and infant daughter both died in a car crash shortly after he won his Senate seat in 1966.
Senator Joe Biden has ended his bid for the Democratic nomination after a poor showing in Iowa.
Statement:
“I am not going away. I’m returning to the Senate as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and will continue to ensure that we protect the nation’s security and show our country that Democrats know how to keep America safe, keep our commitment to our troops and restore our country’s respect in the world.â€
1) He believes a first, second or third place showing in Iowa will propel him to the nomination because the press would “have to cover me”. (No offense, but the press has been covering Biden for quite awhile.)
2) He would not be interested in a VP slot under Hillary Clinton.
3) He believes everyone else on the Democratic ticket, except possibly Chris Dodd, will need on-the-job-training. Not necessarily sure what makes Dodd so special.
4) There was a time when he thought Bill Richardson was also ready to lead but with his recent statements Biden is starting to question that. (So am I!)
5) He believes Bill Clinton will overshadow the role of any VP and he isn’t interested in that.
Which brings me to one final thought. After eight years of Dick Cheney we all might well be ready for a VP that goes back to the traditional, largely ceremonial role of not dying and being the tie breaking vote in the Senate. I could see though how that might not be enticing for more people.
“In order to look tough, he’s undermined his ability to be tough,” Senator Joe Biden said, arguing that Obama’s rhetoric would hurt the U.S.’s ability to get the very same “actionable intelligence” that might prompt an Obama administration’s military incursion.
“It’s a well-intended notion he has, but it’s a very naïve way of thinking how you’re going to conduct foreign policy,” said Biden who yesterday said of Obama’s speech, “the way to deal with it is not to announce it, but to do it. The last thing you want to do is telegraph to the folks in Pakistan that we are about to violate – quote – ‘their sovereignty.’”
I like how in the article from the Associated Press they say HILLARY TO APPEAR FOR LETTERMAN’S ANNIVERSARY SHOW in the first two appearances and then in the third paragraph they very quietly slip in that Senator Joe Biden will appear on Tuesday. But back to Senator Clinton.
Anyway Sen. Biden will be on Tuesday and Sen. Clinton will be on Aug. 30th.
From SalonSenator Joe Biden actually says a few things about online campaigning and the 2008 Race
How angry will you be if this turns out not to be a serious election on the issues and is instead decided over who has the best “Sopranos” parody video or who had the most maladroit haircut? Or even, who shouts the loudest about how much they hate the Iraq war?
If it turns out to be that, I will be very disappointed that I didn’t spend the summer at Rehoboth Beach [Delaware]. You think I’m kidding, I’m not. And it would mean that the Democrats are going to lose if that’s what happens.
But I don’t think that’s where it is. I think that of the candidates who might fit into that categoric description now, it’s possible that one of them could step up. I think one of them can. Others can’t.
Do you think in the era of YouTube and video cellphones, you can get away with being Joe Biden? I mean being a guy who in the space of two minutes in Cedar Rapids started to tell a joke about Al Gore and the Internet and made a reference to George Wallace in a discussion of healthcare plans.
The answer is probably not. But I’ll tell you what — one of the things I’m not going to do. I’m not going to let that system alter who I am. For example, one of the things that happens is that the public is coming to grips with how to deal with this instant, unfiltered information that may be deliberately mis-edited.
But I think — and this is naive maybe — I have confidence that the American people will put this in perspective. Like when one of the bloggers said, “We’re going to take back the Democratic Party.”
They don’t own the Democratic Party. What are they talking about? So, for example, my pointing out George Wallace from 1968 and quoting what he said, somebody could take that out of context and say “Biden quoted Wallace,” making it sound like Biden is being favorable about Wallace.