In yesterday’s New York Times, David Brooks starts his column “Hoping It’s Biden” with: “Barack Obama has decided upon a vice-presidential running mate. And while I don’t know who it is as I write, for the good of the country, I hope he picked Joe Biden” and concludes with “Biden’s the one. The only question is whether Obama was wise and self-aware enough to know that.”
Well, Obama was indeed “wise and self-aware enough to know that…Biden’s the one.”
I may not be the first one to make the vice-presidential pick announcement on The Moderate Voice (I don’t have text messaging), but I am probably one of the happiest TMV contributors today, as Joe Biden has always been “the one” for me.
As a matter of fact, Joe Biden was my favorite to be the Democratic presidential nominee–but let me hasten to add that I am very happy with Obama. I started a blog in 2006, named “Joseph Biden For President.” The blog has been dormant since March 2006. Thus, I need to re-activate it and, of course, change the name to “Joe Biden For Vice President.”
If you wonder about the blog’s funny address (http://letthemeatmangoes.blogspot.com/), a post on the blog explains it.
But back to Joe Biden. In his essay, “Hoping It’s Biden,” Brooks highlights in a frank but touching manner both Joe Biden’s strengths and his frailties, in addition to his working-class roots. Brook’s column convincingly describes how Biden’s strengths by far surpass any weaknesses in the critical areas of honesty, loyalty and experience.
Obama’s own main criteria for picking his running mate were someone who will help him govern; someone who will be an effective partner; and someone who, when it comes to policymaking, will not simply be a “yes person.”
I firmly believe that Obama has found such a “person” in Senator Joe Biden.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.