Three Good Reasons

1. Joe Biden is a large and apparently large-spirited guy who entered the Senate for the first time when he was 29 years old. Thirty-six years later he is still there, head of the Judiciary Committee and Foreign Relations Committee. One of the things a Vice President does is preside over the Senate, breaking ties by voting, generally mixing it up with the branch of Congress that has the right to filibuster, or to bargain by threatening to filibuster. If I ask myself who among the candidates for Vice President who I would like to see working the halls of Congress, I'd have to say Biden. He knows where all the skeletons are buried and he has the personal contacts to be able to work the building. Important? It could be critical, even if the Democrats are able to elect a filibuster-proof majority, since some of the Democrats from the South are fairly conservative. Being able to horse-trade will be essential. As MSNBC pointed out this morning it was Biden who was able to craft an accommodation with Jesse Helms to get the US to pay its back dues to the UN, in return for some flex on the part of the UN.

2. Joe Biden's wife Jill has a Doctorate and teaches at a Community College in Delaware. She reports herself as being increasingly horrified at the cost of a college education and the barriers that it places in the way of those who would like to get an education, but can't figure out any way to do it. I have watched our two boys, now starting their third and fourth years in college. I never anticipated the changes that I have seen in them each year. I guess I got some value out of college, but they are literally being transformed by the exposure. And with financial aid and not the most expensive colleges it is still costing us $50K out of pocket each year, which is often a real stretch, even with loans. I am willing to put ourselves through it because from experience I know that when a kid steps out of college (as I did) it is somewhere between hard and impossible to get back on a graduation track. I like that Biden's wife says she would make education her top priority and that she sees the costs of affording every American a top quality education should be viewed as a national crisis.

3. Biden saved us from Rudy Giuliani by saying that the only thing Rudy had to offer was "a noun, a verb and 9/11". When questioned about that he said the problem with Rudy is that he simply does not know much, as for example when he stated publicly that he did not know whether North Korea or Iran was a great nuclear threat. And then Biden laughed and sneered at how stupid that comment was. I think it is time for a little bit more calling-out, smacking down and sneering, when stupid and pointless things have been said in public.

After hearing the two men speak today I may find many more reasons to feel okay with Biden. I am interested to see the chemistry between the two. I am astounded to hear that Biden has commuted back and forth to Washington for thirty-six years. Is he nuts? or was there method in his madness? In either case, one suspects he will get the commuter vote.

I also think he will help Obama in the 65 and older demographic, where Obama has been weaker against McCain. It may be possible that Biden would be perceived in that group as something akin to an elder-stud. Someone who understands their world.

Arthur