Joe Biden

Endless Speculation About Hillary Clinton’s Future: Secretary Of Defense Or Vice President?

Ronald 2 Comments

Lately, there has been speculation about the future of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Acknowledged by most observers as doing an exceptional job as Secretary of State, and reported to have a very close relationship with President Obama, one would think that Clinton would simply stay on as Secretary of State, until her plans at some point in the future to retire, self declared by her recently.

But instead, there are rumors that she will replace Secretary of Defense Robert Gates when he leaves at some point in the future, and returns to Texas!

There is also the suggestion by Sally Quinn of the Washington Post that Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden should switch positions, with Hillary becoming Vice President under the 25th Amendment, after Joe Biden resigns and becomes Secretary of State, having the opportunity to shape foreign policy, his greatest love and passion!

The argument is that Biden has no intention of seeking the Presidency, as he would be 74 at the end of a second Obama term.

But supposedly, Hillary Clinton might still be interested in seeking the Presidency at the age of 69 in 2016, younger than Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole, and John McCain, when they finally were nominated for President!

The argument is that Hillary Clinton could help President Obama win a second term, and with her experience and gender, could negate the effect of Sarah Palin or any other woman in the Republican party, and would have exceptional credentials to replace Obama if, for some reason, he left before the end of the second term. In any case, she would have a tremendous edge on the 2016 nomination and election from the Vice Presidency!

Of course, all this is speculation and rumor, but it certainly is interesting and fascinating to discuss and think about such scenarios as Secretary of Defense and Vice President for Hillary Clinton! 🙂

Barack Obama And Joe Biden: A Close Relationship

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Barack Obama proved once again how much he respects and relies on Joe Biden when he came out with the Vice President to hail the passage of Health Care reform legislation on Sunday evening, and had the Vice President introduce him on Tuesday as he signed the landmark legislation.

It is not typical for a President to allow his Vice President to share the limelight with him at key moments in his Presidency. Some Vice Presidents have been kept at a distance, such as Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Spiro Agnew, George HW Bush and Dan Quayle.

Only Walter Mondale and Al Gore were seen as real partners with their Presidents, but even they rarely shared the limelight with Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Dick Cheney was sometimes in the background, but was much more often not present at all in the public spotlight.

But Joe Biden has become an important part of decision making under Barack Obama, and he is totally committed to and loyal toward his President, and Barack Obama knows it and trusts him implicitly. Obama is not an egotist who needs the total spotlight for himself, and is very generous in having Joe Biden, his good friend, rejoice in the successes of the administration.

We are very fortunate to have a team of Obama and Biden, as together they are dedicated to essential change and reforms at home and abroad!

Vice President Joe Biden: Obama’s Secret Weapon?

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Vice President Joe Biden was thought to be likely to fade into the background, and be an insignificant factor in the Presidency of Barack Obama, but instead he is being seen as the secret weapon assisting Obama in many ways.

His experience, contacts, and warm relationships with many members of the Senate, plus his years as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and also as past Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, all are putting him in good stead as the administration faces the challenge of gaining Health Care reform, and dealing with intractable diplomatic issues.

In his role as presiding officer of the Senate, Biden could well be the decisive factor in the passage of “Reconciliation”, which would bring about the enactment of the most significant social legislation since Medicare in the 1960s.

Biden is now in the Middle East, trying to promote diplomatic negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, and rallying Arabs against the rising threat of Iranian nuclear weapons. He has excellent contacts with many world leaders and is able, therefore, to assist Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her diplomatic activities.

A totally different Vice President than Dick Cheney, Biden could well be seen in the future as a major factor in the successes of a much younger, less experienced President whom he loyally serves!

Surprise In Delaware: Joe Biden’s Son Not Running For Senate

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A big surprise emerged today when Beau Biden, Attorney General of Delaware and son of Vice President Joe Biden, announced he would not run for his father’s Senate seat.

It is believed possible that the loss of the Massachusetts Senate seat to Republican Scott Brown may have affected the younger Biden’s decision. It was seen as easier for him to keep his position as Attorney General, than to challenge Mike Castle, the present Delaware Congressman, who has had a long career in that chamber and is now running as the GOP candidate for the Senate.

The problem with this decision, however, is the message it sends, that the Democrats are basically giving up the seat that was Joe Biden’s for 36 years. Interim Senator Ted Kaufman, the former aide to Joe Biden, has made clear he will just finish out the two year term to the end of the year, rather than run for a full term.

The whole situation seems to make no sense, and it is a shame that the Democrats are ready to just concede the seat. At this rate, the Democrats could lose more seats than one once thought.

The Cook Political Report projects that the GOP will gain 5-7 seats in the Senate this year as things now stand. If that is the case, then the Democrats had better get moving now to get some of their agenda accomplished, including health care in some form, because if the Senate is something like only 52 to 54 seats for the Democrats in 2011-2012, it will be a major battle to get anything done before the Presidential election. And as stated earlier, it will make replacements of aging Supreme Court Justices Stevens and Ginsberg all the more complex and difficult!

The Real Sarah Palin: Clueless, Ignorant Mediocrity!

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We have heard so much about Sarah Palin, the former Governor of Alaska and GOP Vice Presidential nominee in 2008, but the more we learn, the more we realize how fortunate we are that John McCain lost the 2008 election. We also can see that anyone who thinks this woman is qualified to run for President is just like her: a clueless, ignorant mediocrity, and I am trying to be a gentleman! 🙂

On Sixty Minutes, McCain Aide Steve Schmidt informed Anderson Cooper that Palin did not understand why there was a North and South Korea; thought Saddam Hussein had attacked the United States on September 11; had trouble with Joe Biden’s name, calling him O’Biden, so was told in the Vice Presidential debate to call him “Joe”; and that she promoted untruths and came across as inaccurate much too often.  Also, she stated to Schmidt that her nomination was part of “God’s plan”!

How anyone can take her seriously, or even spend money and stand in line to buy her book, in which she blames everyone for her own shortcomings and refuses to take responsibility for anything about the campaign, is absolutely amazing!

Joe Biden And The Homeless

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Vice President Joe Biden went unceremoniously today to a DC homeless shelter, because he felt a need to remember what less fortunate people go through, particularly at a time of ten percent unemployment. He served a meal to a group of homeless men.

Not looking for publicity, Biden declared the line that I have often used in class and elsewhere, when people tend to make a harsh judgment about poor people and the homeless.

“There but for the grace of God, there goes I!”

It is important for everyone always to keep this in mind as one moves on through life’s journey!

The White House Debate Over Afghanistan

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The New York Times reports today that various alternative plans on Afghanistan are being considered, and that the President is about to have his eighth meeting on the subject with his advisers later today after his involvement with the Veterans Day commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery.

The various alternatives all seem to involve different levels of new troops going to Afghanistan, although the top advisers continue to be split on the subject.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen all seem to favor a major escalation of troops, while Vice President Joe Biden and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel remain skeptical to such a growth of troops.

This decision is extremely important, and I feel that if President Obama goes the route of more escalation, he will come to regret it, and it could cause a loss of support within his party for his domestic initiatives. Ultimately, it could cause a failed Presidency and an untold growth in the national debt, which seems not to worry the Republican opposition which screams and yells about unacceptable levels of debt to deal with the Great Recession and domestic reform, including health care, but sees defense spending as not an issue that upsets them.

I say to President Obama that he must ignore the opposition attacks and do what is best for the nation, so I repeat: Listen to your vice President, Joe Biden, as he is leading you down the proper and sensible path. Do NOT escalate in Afghanistan and instead build up our homeland security and solve the many domestic problems that this country faces and that you campaigned on. Keep your commitments, and to hell with the conservative and Republican opposition as they wish you and the country ill in their mad quest for taking us to the extreme right, the real threat above all to our nation’s long term future!

Joe Biden Says About Dick Cheney: “Who Cares?” A Great Response!

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Vice President Joe Biden has made it perfectly clear that former Vice President Dick Cheney’s attack on President Obama’s careful reconsideration of Afghanistan policy is something to be ignored, saying “Who cares?”

That is the exactly proper take on Cheney’s criticism. The former Vice President was totally wrong on so much foreign policy during the Bush Administration, and actually harmed the President he served with his delusional view of the world scene.

Meanwhile, Biden is one of the real assets to President Obama. He has been willing to speak his mind, and yet has made clear that he will be loyal to whatever the President ultimately decides. The President has great confidence in his partner, and the two men together are shaping a new view of the world, which will be an asset to the nation over the next four to eight years.

It is amazing how switching from one Vice President to another can really transform the nation to the benefit of its people. Hooray again for Joe Biden, who will go down as the one of the most effective and significant Vice Presidents in American history!

The Growing Role Of Senator John Kerry In Foreign Policy

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When Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts lost the 2004 Presidential election, it seemed as if he would be a forgotten figure, an also ran who failed to win the White House and receded into the background, never to be significant again.

Instead, Senator Kerry has become a very important figure, as the election of Barack Obama led to the promotion of Senator Joe Biden to the position of Vice President, and to the selection of Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama’s opponent in the primaries, to the position of Secretary of State.

This series of developments led to Kerry being elevated to the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which had been headed by Biden, and Kerry is making the most of this opportunity.

Taking the advice of the late Senator Edward Kennedy in how to make a loss a way to advancement, as Kennedy had experienced after losing the presidential nomination to President Carter in 1980 but making the most of it in pursuing a more important career path in the Senate, Kerry has become a major player in foreign relations and is regularly consulted by the administration.

Kerry makes a good point, already enunciated as well by Rahm Emanuel, the White House Chief of Staff, that until the Afghan national elections are settled, it cannot be expected that more troops will be sent, if at all. We are still awaiting the final determination, not only of that election, but of what US policy in the future will be toward that nightmare situation in Afghanistan.

The Growing Influence Of Vice President Joe Biden In Foreign Policy

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Vice President Joe Biden is rapidly becoming as influential Vice President close to the level of former Vice President Dick Cheney, but politically the exact opposite of Cheney.

Cheney promoted a hawkish view of foreign policy, while Biden is promoting a more dovish view, that we should not promote more troops in Afghanistan, but rather depend on drones and intelligence in Pakistan to hunt down Al Qaeda while, for the time being, NOT withdrawing the 68,000 troops already in Afghanistan. The history of Afghanistan is that no nation has ever, going back to ancient times, conquered or won in an intervention in that country.

This is wise advice in my view, and it is hoped that President Obama will listen to the Vice President. But the suggestion by Ariana Huffington that Biden should resign if he loses the battle over troop increases in Afghanistan is preposterous.

The way to change policy over time is to stick it out and work to change the President’s mind, even if not possible immediately.

Biden is one of the major assets of the Obama Administration, and he is a man of much wisdom!