by Wayne Douma

Created on: August 23, 2009

Joe Biden was sworn in as Vice President of the United States on January 20, 2009, wasn't he? It seems that Biden has been locked in a closet somewhere deep in the White House since Obama was inaugurated in as President. He has made some public statements, but those turned out to make the administration look bad, so Biden has stayed quiet once again.

Joe Biden was picked as VP by Obama for the sole reason of experience. Barack Obama ran a smart campaign and knew his major criticism was lack of experience. Enter Joe Biden - a man who has served on the United States Senate for 20 plus years, run for President and lost, and is a very well respected opinion on the issue of foreign relations. Joe Biden was the smart pick for Obama to make, and he did so.

Maybe Obama thought that since he is so well-spoken and gifted with the teleprompter, that Joe Biden could change his track record of foot-in-mouth disease. That did not seem to work. It was during the campaign that Joe Biden uttered the statement, "It is patriotic to pay higher taxes." Perhaps that could have been worded a little better. Another time Biden had this problem was during the Democrat primaries at a debate when he stated that the ticket's opponent, John McCain, was a dear friend who would make a better President then his inexperienced opponent Obama (in fairness to Biden, this was before he was tapped as VP for Obama).

The truth is, Joe Biden is an expert on foreign relations, not economic issues. Yes, as a Senator he had to cast votes dealing with the economy, but that was never Biden's strongest issue. The problem for Obama then and now is that the economy is bad. The United States is currently in a recession and during press conferences and interviews the VP will certainly be asked questions dealing with economics.

The thing is, Biden is a likable guy. The liberal media and Democratic higher-ups shutter at the thought of Biden making "another dumb statement publicly" but Biden has a real American story. We have all heard him speak of growing up in a poor family, living in Scranton Pennsylvania, and the heartbreaking story of losing his first wife in a car accident. The American people like stories like this, and tend to enjoy politicians who have them. I am a strong conservative, and have long been saying, "Joe Biden is my favorite Democrat." This is not because his gaffes make the Democrats look bad either. The reason I like Joe Biden is because of those foot-in-mouth moments. Biden gets up there and speaks what is on his mind. He is truthful, and speaks from the heart - yes these things may sometimes be seen as gaffes, but they are what he believes. Biden is an honest politican, and those are hard to come by in either party in Washington DC.

President Obama may not let Biden go out alone in public anytime soon with this current health-care debate heating up, but we will see more of Biden hopefully when foreign relations calls for it. He really is a respected mind on foreign relations, by both sides of the aisle, and that is his strongest suite. I do have another piece of advice for President Obama on Joe Biden - read Biden's book "Promises to Keep." It is a great read (coming from a conservative here), and maybe Obama will pay close attention to the title. Again that is "Promises to Keep" and we have a President that has a lot of those he seems to be not keeping in his first 8 months in office.

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