Delaware's Presidential Candidate, Joe Biden

Senator Joe Biden of Delaware has joined the race for U.S. President. He got off to an inauspicious start by inadvertently insulting former African-American candidates.

Of course, being a long-term Senator does not mean you are perfect.

Biden has been a Senator for close to thirty-five years. He first gained my attention while chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. During his eight year run as chairman, he presided over two heavily publicized U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings when Robert Bork was nominated in 1987 and in 1991 when Clarence Thomas burst on the scene.

In the case of Thomas, the committee was divided by the elder Bush’s nomination. They failed to make a recommendation before sending the candidate before the Senate. In what has been described as the closest vote in the twentieth century, Thomas won approval 52-48.

The Senate hearings in both situations made great television and made temporary stars of such people as Illinois Senator Paul Simon and Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. Simon parlayed his notoriety into a 1988 Presidential candidacy of his own.

Biden also announced his candidacy in 1988, but the run went down in flames. This was a time when not everything you said and did was video taped, but Biden was caught repeating a speech by British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock and claiming it for his own.

Aides to eventual Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis spotted the plagiarism and got the media’s attention. Dukakis made a show of reprimanding his team, but their actions did propel the Massachusetts governor into the spotlight.

So what about all this history? What does Biden have today that none of the other candidates have?

If you weigh the pros and cons you will notice that Biden still does not have the best decision making skills. He made a poor choice in 1988 on what speech to deliver. He made a poor choice of comments when asked about Obama.

Sure, one was a speech and the other was off the cuff, but I want a president who is intelligent, whether writing a speech or speaking candidly.

Biden still does not have great leadership skills. He was unable in 1991 to lead the judiciary committee to offer more than a neutral vote on Clarence Thomas. Recently, he was unable to garner support for the non-binding resolution to condemn the Bush build-up of troops in Iraq. He voted among the 56 senators, but even with seven Republican senators joining up, they still fell four votes short.

Now we could blame a lot of Senatorial Presidential candidates for missing the boat, but Biden is a long-term Senator who should be bringing leadership to the table in his run for office. Even if it was a non-binding resolution, would it have been a nice feather to say he helped drove this through?

In the long run, I like Joe Biden. I like what he says about Iraq. I like the five point plan he has presented for finishing the war and leaving Iraq.

Biden may just be the best choice among the candidates for U.S. President. To get there, he will have to make some changes. He will have to speak more eloquently and convince people to change their minds on important issues.

Overall, Biden must be a leader, more than a smiling face. Let’s see what happens.