blue stockings | The Politico and others wonder why we aren't hearing more from Joe.
In a column last week The Washington Post's David Ignatius called Biden "the incredible shrinking vice president-elect."
"Where is he these days?" Ignatius wonders. "Do they have him in a box? He can't be happy at the idea of considering Clinton as foreign policy tsarina — wasn't Biden's foreign policy savvy the reason he was picked?"
Those close to Biden say he views his role as providing counsel to the president — a function that's often not visible to the public — and that he is doing just that.
Like their recent predecessors, Obama and Biden have met for weekly one-on-one lunches since the election. Biden has also been at every key transition meeting and has had private discussions with Obama on the phone when the vice president-elect has regularly returned from the transition base in Chicago to his home in Delaware.
Well, that's good, isn't it?
John Cole says:
I thought the big “downfall” to Biden was his big mouth...
Good. I like Biden as a person, but after Darth Cheney, I am all about limiting the standing and authority of the VP
According to The Politico, this seems to be on the cards:
The vice presidential office's role, which expanded tremendously during
the Bush administration. Dick Cheney is viewed by many as the most
powerful vice president in American history and as a chief architect of
the war in Iraq.
The office's role will likely shrink back to something closer to its usual size after Obama takes office.
The office's role will likely shrink back to something closer to its usual size after Obama takes office.
Biden famously called Cheney "the most dangerous vice president we've
had probably in American history." But his criticism of Cheney's
interpretation of the office perhaps offers the most telling clues
about the kind of vice president Joe Biden will be.
In another dig at Cheney during the vice-presidential debate in October, Biden cited Article I in the Constitution to say that the vice president has no legislative authority except to be the tie vote in the Senate.
"And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote," Biden said. "The Constitution is explicit."
In another dig at Cheney during the vice-presidential debate in October, Biden cited Article I in the Constitution to say that the vice president has no legislative authority except to be the tie vote in the Senate.
"And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote," Biden said. "The Constitution is explicit."
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