Should Kathleen Sebelius replace VP Biden if he chooses to save his old Senate seat?

[LVZ]

Now that Joe Biden's son Beau has chosen not to run for Senate in Delaware, the Republicans are now favored to take that Senate seat. If Joe Biden decides he would rather be in the Senate, at the same time saving that Senate seat for the Democrats, who do you think should replace him as Vice President?

Biden could likely remain VP until his re-election as six-time Senator from Delaware.

[cali]

1. ridiculous. never gonna happen.

[PCIntern]

2. ...and I'm thinking about going back to Dental School

[Rebubula]

3. Well...

...that is a silly idea.

I understand what you are saying, but you should try to stay in the realm of the remotely possible when you pose these questions.

[Captain Hilts]

4. Mike Castle should be defeated on age alone. He's too old to be a freshman senator. nt

[LVZ]

24. Unfortunately, the GOP Senate candidate is now leading in the polls - n/t

[FBaggins]

5. Do you think he would even win? I don't.

Think of how easy the spin would be. His son just announced that it's more important for him to remain as state AG than to get in to the senate race... and then dad comes along and says that it's MORE important than being VP?

[LVZ]

6. This shows how little some folks know about Joe's popularity at home - 65% last Senate election

Six-time Senator Joe Biden has almost always gotten over 60% for his Senate elections.

His re-election would be the proverbial "slam-dunk" in Delaware.

He would return to being the 4th highest ranking Senator in the US Senate.

[FBaggins]

7. No... it shows how some people don't recognize how things change.

Ever wonder why Reid is in danger in NV? Why Daschle had trouble in SD?

When you take a moderate Democrat and force him to run the national party's issues, you make him less popular at home because he needs to take positions that he wouldn't have otherwise taken. Biden now has a full year of administration actions that he can be called on during a campaign.

You also entirely discount the fact that his opponent has won more times in statewide races than Biden has (13 times!). 2002 was the last time that they were both really campaigning for statewide seats at the same time. Biden won 58% of the vote... Castle won 72%.

His election wouldn't be close to a "slam dunk".

And as I said... giving up the VP slot when your son just said that keeping his AG spot was more important than this race... would just make the whole thing worse. Not to mention making the national party look desperate and possibly cost them seats elsewhere.

No offense... but it's even the suggestion that Biden would consider this that falls into the "how little some people know" category.

[LVZ]

8. Apples and Oranges - Nevada and South Dakota have been red states

I live in Nevada. Reid has never been close to a 65% win as Joe Biden did in his last election.

South Dakota is a solid red state and Nevada is still a nominally red state with a GOP Governor.

To compare Reid/Daschle to Biden politically is just silly.

[FBaggins]

11. Nope.

And 61% (his most recent race) is pretty "close to a 65% win" - That 61% was just two years after Biden's 58% win.

This also highlights the fact that you continue to ignore 13 straight statewide wins for the opponent. The guy has won seven statewide races by larger margins than anything Biden ever won (that single 65% was against a nobody opponent when the voters knew he wouldn't never even take the seat.)

To compare Reid/Daschle to Biden politically is just silly.

Nope. It's the same dynamic with different specifics. The point is that Biden can't run as the same candidate who won there previously.

Once again... the only thing here that is "just silly" is the fanciful notion that the VP would step down to try and save a senate seat. That's just plain ridiculous.

[Leopolds Ghost]

9. You guys realize DE is a NORTHERN BLUE STATE, right?

[LVZ]

12. Actually that was my point - Biden would be a shoo-in for reelection to the Senate n/t

[FBaggins]

14. Not as blue as MA.

In national races, it's almost as blue (though Kerry only won there by seven)... but a republican has won there by convincing margins every couple years for three decades now. That doesn't deserve "BLUE" in all caps.

[TwilightGardener]

10. Who, in the history of politics, has ever demoted himself like that?

[LVZ]

16. Demotion? VP is not exactly a prize for many ...

“the vice presidency is not worth a bucket of warm spit.” -- Vice President John Nance Garner (Franklin Roosevelt)

John Adams described the vice presidency as “the most insignificant Office that ever the Invention of Man contrived or his imagination conceived.”

BTW, President Andrew Johnson returned to the US Senate after he left office

President John Quincy Adams was a US congressman for 17 years after his presidency.

Former California Governor Jerry Brown is currently mayor of Oakland, California

I am sure there are many, many similar examples.

[Caliman73]

29. This doesn't exactly prove your point..

“the vice presidency is not worth a bucket of warm spit.” -- Vice President John Nance Garner (Franklin Roosevelt)

Nance was vice president serving under a dynamic, do it yourself president. The office was nothing like it is today. Look and see if Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, or Gerald Ford thought the vice presidency was worth a bucket of spit.

John Adams described the vice presidency as “the most insignificant Office that ever the Invention of Man contrived or his imagination conceived.”

Again, different office, different period. When it was conceived it was the runner up position with not much in the way of responsibility. These days it is much more visible and important.

BTW, President Andrew Johnson returned to the US Senate after he left office

The key word in that sentence is AFTER. Johnson was not a good president at all, but was a decent Senator. Still, he did not leave his office to go back to the Senate. He was done with his term and decided to go back into politics as a Senator.

President John Quincy Adams was a US congressman for 17 years after his presidency.

Again, key word AFTER. You are talking about a sitting vice president leaving office. That is very different. Losing another Senate seat would be bad, but a sitting vice president leaving his office to run in another election would be far worse for the Democratic party. The right would have a field day.

Former California Governor Jerry Brown is currently mayor of Oakland, California

Jerry Brown was the mayor of Oakland. He left in 2007 to become the Attorney General of California, and guess what? He isn't stepping down to be a mayor again in the middle of his term, he is running to be the Governor again. Jerry Brown is a political animal, I think that if he does not win in November, he will take another office, whatever he can get. His political career however, does not support your idea. All it says it that some people choose to serve in many different capacities in public office.

I am sure there are many, many similar examples.

There are many examples, but none that would support your idea that leaving a national position like the vice presidency would be a good thing. The only example I can think of where an executive office recently left a position in the middle of a term in office is Sarah Palin. Her personal wealth has grown, but her political career is most likely over. Should she choose to run again, her quitting the Governorship of Alaska will be front and center of the attacks on her lack of ability as an executive.

[LVZ]

30. All good information and many valid points, but ...

Neither you nor I know how Joe Biden feels about being Vice President compared to his long tenure and status as the 4th ranking member of the US Senate. We also don't know how important a loss of his Senate seat to the GOP would be to either Biden or Obama.

Since 2016 is the earliest date that Biden would likely have any opportunity to run for President, I think the potential for doing so is mostly gone with an age by then in the later 70s.

If the Delaware Senate seat is deemed more important than hanging around as the late-night object of comedic barbs, it could actually be a win-win-win for Biden, the Democratic Party, and a revitalized administration, particularly with a new, dynamic, fresh face in the mix, whether that is Kathleen Sebelius or someone else.

[Caliman73]

31. I disagree, but I respect your opinion.

I see it more from the national level as some of the other posters have stated. I think the Biden leaving the office to go back to the Senate would give the Republicans a powerful tool. Whether a valid position or not, they would portray Biden stepping down as a lack of confidence in the President and a lack of faith in the party in Delaware. The Democratic party has not been very good at message control of late and I think that ultimately a move like that would do way more damage at the national level, than it would benefit Delaware or the national Democratic party.

If what you say happens and doesn't blow up in the Democrat's faces, I will buy you a beer. :toast:

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. John Calhoun:

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000044

[TwilightGardener]

18. Interesting--but it appears he served almost two full terms as VP.

[LVZ]

19. Good research - a sitting VP who resigned to become Senator

Vice President John Calhoun

[Bluenorthwest]

13. I'd skip a ticket with Sebelius on it

Do not like her, and that would be a bridge too far. Pass. Plus, Biden is not going to go backwards, really.

[rucky]

15. Where on earth is this coming from?

[gmoney]

20. If Biden jumps ship for 2012, that will work to the R's advantage

"Obama's own vice president doesn't support him enough to stay on the ticket, why should anybody else support Obama?" would be the talking point, and it would work. Welcome President Palin.

[LVZ]

21. Oh, puh-lease. A smart, dynamic woman on the ticket would only enhance electability n/t

[gmoney]

23. I'm just saying it could easily be construed as "no confidence" on Biden's part

Plus it ALSO sends the message that the Democratic platform is so weak, the only Democratic candidate that could possibly win in DE is a "celebrity" like Biden.

The Brown election last week would underscore that message... without having the incumbency of Ted Kennedy to hold that seat, what was presumed to be a lock for the Democrats turned out to be a solid win for the Republicans.

What needs to happen is to simply find an electable Democratic candidate in DE. That, and quit fucking shit up in Washington so bad that we hand all of 2012 to the Republicans.

No reflection at all on Sibelius. Although I'm not sure the country is ready to vote for a ticket that doesn't include at least ONE white male over age 55.

[avaistheone1]

33. Sebelius is a corporate shill.

Let's get a smart dynamic woman who is not.

[Cass]

22. WTF

This will never happen, not in a million years.

[intheozone]

25. No, she's awful, and doesn't appear to be much of a fighter. nt

[AngryOldDem]

26. Why in the hell would he want to do THAT?

The Democrats have enough problems as it is.

[avaistheone1]

27. Sebelius doesn't excite me at all.

She seems too wishy washy. She is a slimy politician from what I have seen so far.

[upi402]

28. no, i should replace him

and NOW!

Credit Card Joe needs to go.

[Steely_Dan]

32. Maybe...

Joe should challenge Obama in 2012.

-P