Joe Biden has stood behind President Obama the last six years in every crisis from reviving the economy, to immigration reform, gay marriage, negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, the war in Iraq and health care reform. Photo Credits: upi.com
A conversation from a far region in the back of my mind:
Why not Joe?
Really, Joe?
Yea, why not Joe?
Joe who?
Come on, you know, Joe – Joe Biden.
Is he still in public life?
Well, yea. He is still the Vice President of the United States of America.
You got to be kidding me. That old fossil is still the Vice President of the United States?
For crying out loud, I mean, for laughing out loud, where have you been living the last six years?
You don’t hear too much from that guy, I thought he had been replaced.
No, man, Joe Biden has had President Obama’s back since Obama picked him as his running mate back in ’08.
Well, if he has had Obama’s back, why no one is talking about him as a presidential contender in ’16?
I don’t really know. I guess because Hillary Clinton never stopped running for president since the day she got whipped by Obama in the Democratic Primary in ’08.
Man, that seemed like a long time ago, two thousand and eight. A lot of water has washed over the dam in all that time.
It sure has, Benzahi, private email accounts, letters to foreign heads of states, a collapsing economy. Yet through it all Hillary has not missed a beat in rallying women around the fact that she did not break that glass ceiling for women in ’08. Nobody seem to care what she stands for, the fact that she offers the best opportunity for a woman to become president is about all most women think about.
Well, I thought she had it locked up?
Well yea, this time last year Michelle Nunn down in Georgia thought she would be sitting in the United States Senate today.
What happen to Michelle Nunn?
The good Democrats in Georgia cleared the field for her. They did not want a vigorous primary campaign, so they talked all the top-notched Democrats from running.
Oh, I thought the Democrats had a primary in Georgia last year?
Well they did have one, but Nunn would not come out and debate her opponents. She thought that she could pull enough conservative Republican voters to go with her strong showing in the black community.
What happen?
Conservative Republicans laughed at her and Nunn was left with mostly the blind loyalist in the black community on voting day.
Dog gone, if that is not a recipe for disaster I don’t know what is. But what does that have to do with Joe?
Joe hadn’t said if he is going to run or not. I don’t see why he would not run. After all he is the sitting Vice President and although the President is not very popular, probably because he is black, the economy is performing better than it did under Bill Clinton.
Yea, yea, but what does that have to do with Nunn, Georgia and all like that there and everything?
You see my friend, Nunn said elect me because of my name recognition. Everybody in Georgia knows who my daddy is. Don’t worry about the details, in fact the less I say about the details the better. Just trust me. I do not want to commit to anything, but vote for me because my daddy is Sam Nunn.
So what does all that mean?
What it means is, Hillary is using the same strategy. She is basically saying, elect me because of my name recognition. Everybody in the United States knows who my husband is. Don’t worry about the details, Trust me. Vote for me because my husband is Bill Clinton and I will become the first woman president of the USA.
Okay, but why Joe.
Why not Joe? As Vice President, Joe has participated in developing the major policy decisions in healthcare, raising the minimum wage, immigration reform, foreign relations, negotiations in the Middle East and the revitalization of the American economy.
He was there so what?
Most people agree that America is stronger in these areas than she was six years ago. Who better to continue growing the economy, or developing fair immigration reform. Then you have to consider President Obama’s approach to foreign policy. He has tampered down the rhetoric that drew battle lines between Muslims and Americans. He has changed the focus of why we commit troops in foreign lands from drumming up hatred of our adversary to protecting our vital interest abroad. The beauty of the Obama years will be in how long his policies last after he leaves office. Old Joe is just the person to keep the prosperity of America rocking along at an unparalleled growth rate and he will continue the fight to protect the Homeland.
I hear ya, but Hillary, oh man, Hillary!
Harold Michael Harvey, is the author of the legal thriller “Paper Puzzle,” and “Justice in the Round: Essays on the American Jury System,” available at Amazon and at haroldmichaelharvey.com. He can be contacted at [email protected]