Suddenly, Joe Biden Makes It A Race With Hillary Clinton For 2016!

Here many thought that the Democratic Presidential race for 2016 was over, and that Hillary Clinton would saunter to the nomination without opposition.

True, that former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley were hinting that they might challenge Hillary, but the thought was it could just be an attempt to gain some publicity, and hope that Hillary would not run, giving them the edge simply on intention to run.

Well, forget about that, as Vice President Joe Biden has made it clear that he does not wish to be ignored or overlooked, and that IF he decides to run, it will not be affected by what Hillary does. After all, even good friends compete in life, right? Biden does not want to be seen, certainly at this point, as a “lame duck”, still wanting to be seen as significant and in the game for the next three years as Vice President and beyond.

When one thinks about it, since Richard Nixon, it has been assumed, and often the fact, that a sitting Vice President was seen as a likely successor to the President he served, at least for the nomination. Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, Gerald Ford, Walter Mondale, George H. W. Bush, and Al Gore all became Presidential nominees after serving under Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. Nixon and Bush became President, while Humphrey, Ford, Mondale and Gore failed to win the Presidential elections after they were nominated by their party. Only Dick Cheney never considered running for the Presidency, after being Vice President under George W. Bush. Even Spiro Agnew, before he was forced to resign due to scandal, was perceived as the likely successor nominee to Richard Nixon, and the same for Dan Quayle under George H. W. Bush, who tried and failed to win the Presidential nomination in 1996.

So the idea of Biden wanting to run is not at all out of the norm, and when one looks seriously at Joe Biden’s record in public life, all one say is WOW!

The reality is that NO Vice President has EVER had the wealth of experience in public office of Joe Biden!

BIden served 36 years in the Senate, and will have had 8 years in the Vice Presidency, for a total of 44 years in public service by 2016.

Biden is a well liked, admired, gregarious, public figure, even if one does not agree with his viewpoints and record.

It is well known that Biden can build bridges with the Republican opposition, and that Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell like him, work well with him, and that Joe Biden has helped to resolve differences on many issues for the Obama Administration. Biden has been a major player and influence over policy and strategy for President Obama, and has been a loyal soldier when his viewpoints have lost out in the cabinet and national security meetings.

Joe Biden has chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his expertise in foreign policy, and his knowledge of, and relationships with foreign leaders make him invaluable in dealing with national security and defense issues. He was often thought of as a possible Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense in the past, due to his brilliance in these areas of such great importance to America’s future.

Joe Biden has also chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, and his knowledge and understanding of constitutional matters and the Supreme Court, make him invaluable on legal controversies, including his advocacy of gay rights and gay marriage ahead of most politicians who have served in Congress or the executive branch.

Joe Biden is a leader, who if he were President, would be able to get things done much more easily, and is a “wheeler dealer” in the mode of Lyndon B. Johnson, but with a more kind and caring edge than the former President, who could be quite brusque and crude at times.

Hillary Clinton has great background and experience, but on pure years and accomplishments, she cannot match Joe Biden, and in fact, NO ONE in public life can do so!

The major shortcomings of Joe Biden are:

His age, which will be 74 and two months if he took the oath of office in 2017, making him the oldest first term President, and in theory, the oldest President altogether, if he had two terms, and left office at age 82 and two months.

His health, the question whether it would hold up, as he had serious health issues in 1987, due to an aneurysm, which required brain surgery, and his son, Beau Biden, the Delaware Attorney General, suffered a similar health crisis a few years ago, also recovering, but making it seem to be a genetic problem, which could arise, although health issues could also arise for Hillary Clinton, and really, for any Presidential candidate or winner of either party at any age!

His tendency to say embarrassing, or sometimes, purely stupid comments, although one could argue all of us do that, but when in high office. it can have reverberations, and there are critics who keep lists of “Bidenisms”, but they do NOT match the moronic nature of comments made by Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann or Louie Gohmert in the present, or Dan Quayle in the past!

One thing is certain: If Joe Biden were to become President, we would have one of the most lively, colorful, dynamic Presidencies, with Biden being very warm, genuine, sincere, caring, and yet hard nosed enough to get things done and read the “riot act” on his own party members to get things done!

It would be nice to see such a Presidency, which would be inspiring in so many ways.

Having said all of the above, it is clear that if Hillary Clinton runs, she is likely to be the Democratic nominee.

If she chooses not to run, then Joe Biden is the odds on favorite for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

However, if Hillary does not run, or even if she does, it is likely that a “younger generation”, an idea advocated by this blogger in entries before now, are likely to enter the race and make it interesting, including the already named Schweitzer and O’Malley, and if Hillary bows out of the race, possibly Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Virginia Senator Mark Warner.

10 comments on “Suddenly, Joe Biden Makes It A Race With Hillary Clinton For 2016!

  1. dave martin February 26, 2014 3:09 pm

    Having the fool Biden as President.
    I can think of nothing that would make the predator Vladimir drool more.
    The prospect of an easy kill would satisfy his anger of the U.S. for what Reagan dealt the USSR .

  2. Ronald February 26, 2014 3:34 pm

    Dave, you are so clueless, it is unbelievable!

    I guess you believe Reagan destroyed the Soviet Union all by himself, and that the Soviet system was not in the process of self destructing, with Gorbachev recognizing that himself, and how the war in Afghanistan had produced the ultimate disaster.

    You worship Reagan, who was quite ignorant in so many ways, and ridicule Biden, who is one of the most brilliant figures in modern Senate history, and is well respected by Republican leaders, but then again, you are ignorant, and therefore not aware of that, and really, not interested in truth and facts, but rather lies and myths! VERY SAD INDEED! 🙁

  3. JOB February 26, 2014 10:02 pm

    Well Ron, I will come out and tell you what disgusts me about Biden. The fact that he spent so much time, and tax dollars investigating steroids in baseball. That alone makes me sick, as if Congress didn’t have more pressing issues. With that said, that one impropriety is not enough to make me turn my back. If he were nominated, I would definitely give his voting record a good once over. In closing, I currently do not like him, but I would not yet be opposed to voting for him.

  4. Ronald February 26, 2014 10:39 pm

    JOB, I am surprised that you, apparently, have no issue with steroid use, while I am a baseball fan, and originally a baseball historian as a kid, LOL, and do not like that some athletes have been making false records and accomplishments, and besmirching the good name of baseball–such as Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez etc. What they have done is reprehensible, and I prefer to admire real accomplishments, such as those of Ken Griffey, Jr;, Derek Jeter, and Cal Ripken as examples.

  5. JOB February 27, 2014 12:13 am

    “JOB, I am surprised that you, apparently, have no issue with steroid use”
    Why are you surprised Ron? I also have no issue with marijuana legalization. Does that surprise you as well?

    “What they have done is reprehensible, and I prefer to admire real accomplishments, such as those of Ken Griffey, Jr;, Derek Jeter, and Cal Ripken as examples.”
    I may agree Ron. But exactly why is this Congress’s fight? Why did they need to spend so much time and money? And why did you leave out Frank Thomas? LOL

  6. Ronald February 27, 2014 5:17 am

    EXCUSE ME, JOB, for daring to leave out Frank Thomas! LOL HAHAHA! I was a big Ernie Banks Fan LOL and he did not need steroids to accomplish his records! LOL

  7. dave martin March 1, 2014 11:15 am

    Oh yes so clueless am I, as we are treated to the baffoon Obama and the idiot Biden jogging around the Whitehouse. Mean while Vladimir is having his way in the Ukraine after taking note of the baffoons latest red line, of course immediately after drawing said red line our baffoon in chief had to attend the much more important dem happy hour. What a disgusting man.
    I am sure that Putin would heed the warnings from the “brilliant” idiot biden much more closely.

  8. Ronald March 1, 2014 11:38 am

    Dave. what do you propose we do? Should we send ground troops into Ukraine? Should we nuke Moscow? You are such a BIG BOY in your braggadocio, that you should have been part of the Bush Administration invasion team into Iraq!

    I remind you, what did Eisenhower do when the Soviets cracked down in their “neighborhood”–Poland and East Germany in 1953 and Hungary in 1956, and what did LBJ do when the Soviets cracked down in Czechoslovakia in 1968? What would you propose that we do, since you are a foreign policy expert, but also have absolutely no sense of humor in your life! Your response is pitiful! 🙁

  9. dave martin March 1, 2014 12:15 pm

    Those mid century problems in Eastern Europe were a direct result of the weak FDR’s handling of Stalin another ruthless predator, a man no better then Hitler. As in nature the predator seizes weakness, just the type of weakness Putin senses with our buffoon of a leader.
    There are other things a real leader can do other then take direct military action, regrettably this idiot has weakened our position in the world through his incompetent actions. Our president has lost the worlds respect, a laughing stock. Not something I can find humor in. Save your pity for those under the iron boot and our children that will have to deal with Obamas criminal mishandling of our nations heritage.

  10. Ronald March 1, 2014 12:24 pm

    I will leave it to Engineer, D, JOB, and others who are not so hateful and poisoned in their evaluation as you are, to respond to your maniacal response, since you see only what you wish to see, rather than reality. Very sad, indeed! 🙁

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