E. J. Dionne: Biden Belongs on the VP List

[babylonsister]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/biden_could_help_obama_win_on.html

June 10, 2008
Biden Belongs on the VP List
By E. J. Dionne

snip//

But the central reason to pick Biden is the message the choice would send about Obama's readiness to contest national security issues and his understanding that fixing American foreign policy must be one of the next president's highest priorities.

Biden has been critical of Bush's approach to Iraq and the world for the right reasons, and from the beginning. In the fall of 2002, he tried, with Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel and Richard Lugar, to pass a more modest war resolution that put additional constraints on Bush. Then-House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt short-circuited the effort by cutting a deal with the president. Even before the war began, Biden was warning of the costs of a lengthy occupation and predicting a decade-long intervention.

He is also frank about his misunderstanding of what Bush would do. At one point, he thought Bush was reluctant to start a war.

"I vastly underestimated the total incompetence of this crew," he says. "I could not fathom that they would do what they did under the circumstances they did it."

To restore its strength and influence, the United States needs to return to the realistic internationalism of FDR, Truman and, yes, the first President Bush. Whether or not Obama picks Biden, he should listen to what Biden is saying. Obama can't sidestep the foreign policy debate. He has to win it.

[woodsprite]

1. I'm for Biden, but many aren't because they don't think he can bring

much to the table in the way of other states.

[Clark2008]

2. Well, he does, but I, for one, would rather every Dem we have

stay in the Senate until we have a vast majority.

Other than the fact that I think Wes Clark is the best thing since sliced bread, I think he's also the best pick because he's not currently serving as a senator, governor or representative and won't take away from party gains.

Plus, he's also got the "demo" that Obama needs: he's Southern, white, former military and has tons of FP experience. That's exactly what Obama needs to shore up his own short-comings (and, yes, folks, he has them. They're not as great as McCain's, but he has them. :) )

So, while I can certainly see Biden's abilities and how they would add to the ticket, I don't want him to leave the Senate.