Joe Biden: Could he help or hurt Obama’s campaign?

By Anthony D. Advincula

NEW YORK—About 2:20 a.m. today, while watching China winning the Olympic bronze medal in women’s volleyball against Cuba, there was the breaking news on my television screen: Barack Obama has picked Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) for vice-president.

I wasn’t surprised at all.

Ten hours before the Democratic official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, spilled the beans to the media – which did pre-empt a text message announcement the Obama campaign promised for Saturday morning – I already e-mailed a couple of friends that Biden would be the one.

A friend of a friend who knows someone from the School of Law at Widener University, where Biden teaches constitutional law, said that Biden wouldn’t be able to attend the 9 a.m. Saturday class. Clearly, just like the old saying, “If there’s smoke there’s fire.”

As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden, 65, is known to be a foreign policy giant. He is a White House insider who has been in the Senate longer than Republican presidential candidate, John McCain. Biden voted for Iraq invasion in 2002, but since then he has been a supporter to bring the U.S. troops home.

Biden was once slammed by critics that he may have problems with minorities. In one of the debates, he was quoted saying, “You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.” In a 2007 ABC News interview, Biden also said that Obama is not ready to become the U.S. president. In all those occasions, however, Obama has been there to defend him.

My biggest concern, though, is that the strength of Joe Biden could magnify Barack Obama’s weakness. If Biden is the heavyweight in the White House oval, voters know that Obama is the flyweight – or even the neophyte beginning to learn the bouts. And, Biden’s strong presence in policy could underscore Obama’s inexperience. I’m afraid that could backfire and hurt the Democratic Party instead.

But with John McCain’s increasing popularity in recent polls, it wouldn’t help Obama either if he went for another novice running mate. Following the primary elections for both political parties, the McCain campaign has been attacking in his television ads the first African-American would-be president. Needless to say, Obama needs a tougher defense against McCain – and the Democrat strategists may have felt that Biden could be an effective buffer.
As the Democratic National Convention looms, it’s time for the Obama-Biden ticket to address the interests of the American people, rather than just giving political lip services behind an enormous “We Believe in Change” banner. It’s time to operationalize those ideas of changes as far as domestic and international affairs are concerned. Yes, I am waiting to hear them speak about immigration reform, solution to the oil crisis, quality education, affordable housing, and effective public healthcare system that works for the American people.

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