JOE BIDEN!

Needless to say, I am ecstatic over Barack Obama’s choice of Senator Joe Biden of Delaware to be his Vice Presidential running mate.  There is absolutely no better choice he could have made!

Joe Biden is a national treasure, a man who should have been the Democratic presidential nominee on qualifications and personality alone, but unfortunately he could  not compete in the big leagues financially or on national following with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and even John Edwards.  This is an example of the problems of our whole election system, that the BEST candidates never have the opportunity to be elected President, sometimes even when they are fortunate enough to be the nominee of their party.

Among such examples would be Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Al Smith, Adlai Stevenson, Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Birch Bayh,  Frank Church, Nelson Rockefeller, Howard Baker, Bob Dole and Al Gore.  Clay would have been better than William Henry Harrison in 1840 and could have spared us John Tyler’s succession.  Daniel Webster was the stateman of his generation along with Clay.  Al Smith would have certainly been better than Herbert Hoover. Stevenson was too good for us against a war hero named Ike.  Hubert Humphrey was certainly better qualified than John F Kennedy on his record in 1960 and could have saved us from Richard Nixon.  George McGovern was a man of vision who could have spared us the downfall of Nixon and the stewardship of Gerald Ford.  Birch Bayh and Frank Church were better,  more experienced choices than Jimmy Carter.  Nelson Rockefeller was certainly better than Nixon and Ford, with Ford at least recognizing that and making Rockefeller his Vice President.  Howard Baker was someone who should have been favored over Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, and Bob Dole also should have had an opportunity over both Reagan and Bush, but was too advanced in age by the time he ran against Bill Clinton.  Al Gore–well, is there any need to say he was better qualified than George W Bush and might have saved us from a lot of the grief  that has occurred in the past eight years?

A criticism that might be leveled is that Biden is better qualified than Obama to be President.   On paper, the same could be said about Lyndon Johnson over John F Kennedy.  Kennedy could not have won without LBJ. My answer is so what?  As long as a candidate recognizes his limitations, I give him credit by recruiting the best running mate he can find.  No President can do it all alone and having an excellent, sometimes better qualified Vice President is a mark of both leadership and lack of egotism getting in the way.  I think the same can be said of Gerald Ford showing no ego problem in picking Nelson Rockefeller, Jimmy Carter selecting Walter Mondale, Ronald Reagan choosing George HW Bush, Bill Clinton turning to Al Gore, and even George W Bush calling upon Dick Cheney.  I would argue all of these cases are examples of the Vice President being BETTER QUALIFIED than the President.  It certainly was better for the country than Nixon picking Spiro Agnew and the first Bush selecting Dan Quayle. So I do not fault Obama for recognizing his limitations and feel assured that his selection of Biden is a sign that he will, when he is elected President, which I am now sure he will be on November 4, choose the best and the brightest among both Democrats and Republicans, as well as independents, to staff his cabinet and close advisers. 

Remember one thing.  The cabinet and close advisers of the President of the United States DO MATTER, and I see Obama as doing much like Abraham Lincoln, who it could be argued was NOT the best choice on paper of the competitors for the 1860 presidential nomination.  That is, Lincoln made sure to gather around him the best and the brightest of his rivals and party leaders, and that had a lot to do with his successes and greatness.  Franklin D Roosevelt was also thought to be not as outstanding as he turned out to be, and he also recruited outstanding cabinet members and advisers.  The greatness and accomplishments of a President are not be be judged by the person himself, as the wisdom and judgment of the man in the people he gathers around him.

So I salute Barack Obama and see bright days ahead as he faces the challenge of the future with Joe Biden at  his side.  HOORAY!  🙂