TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Almost At the Weekend
17 minutes ago
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Biden is Obama's Confidant
This past week, we have heard all about Obama's actions in office. But how is our vice president, Joe Biden, doing? On CBS' "Face the Nation", Biden said he sees his job differently from the way that Dick Cheney operated in the Bush White House. He sees his role as vice president as a confidant, not the deputy president. He hopes to help the Obama shape policy and wants to be the "last person in the room for every key decision that Obama makes". When Obama asked Biden to be his running mate, Biden said he didnt want to be on the ticket unless he was being hired for his judgment, and so far, that is how it has worked. We'll see how influential Biden's judgment will turn out to be. Hopefully, these two can maintain a close relationship for the next few years.
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6 comments:
Since I didn't really have any political knowledge before Bush (I'm sorry, Mr. Silton, I was not a political junkie in 3rd grade), I've always been a little bit unsure of what the vice president's role is supposed to be. Aren't they supposed to be a confidant, just like Biden says? Or do they have responsibilities like the President does that Biden is avoiding?
Technically they are supposed to be a confidant, like Biden says. He isn't avoiding anything.
Technically, they don't have many responsibilities. Officially, the VP only acts as the senate's tie breaker. Other responsibilities would pretty much depend on what the President gives to the VP.
The reason Biden made that statement, I think, is because of the enormous amount of power that Cheney had as Bush's VP. Possibly even the most powerful vice president in our nation's history. Cheney was behind bush in practically every major decision/event. Picture a sort of shadowy puppet master hiding behind the curtains (but maybe that's a bit extreme...). If Biden claims that he will be the "last person in the room for every key decision that Obama makes", then Cheney was probably the first and the last one in Bush's room.
Basically, I think Biden is just assuring the public that he will not be like Cheney.
I thought all vice presidents were supposed to be a confidant. I always saw them as a type of advisor to the president.
Um...I don't really like the collaboration between the two. I think Biden should only be able to help when he is asked for it by Obama. I just think the idea of Biden being like a little conscience sitting on Obama's shoulder is too influential of a position. I don't like the idea of the Presidency becoming like an oligarchy. We elected Obama to be the President to make the key decision. We didn't elect two Presidents. And maybe I'm just being biased because I've watched too much 24 with Jack Bower and the evil assistants to the President.
I certainly don't think that Barack Obama is the type of man to be influenced negatively by his vice president, and to answer that other question, I think that the most important job that the VP has is to be the president if the first one dies. That is pretty important!
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