Election 2008: Joe Biden as Vice President

It may be a while before vice presidential candidates for the Democratic party are announced, but names are swirling around. Joe Biden, senior U. S. senator and former Presidential candidate, may potentially be on the short list.

Who is Joe Biden?

If you are anything like me, the Democrat race was all about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Very few of the other early candidates even crossed my radar. Joe Biden is a rarity in the Senate. He is one of the longest serving senators not just from his state of Delaware, but also in the history of the Senate. He has held his post since his election in 1972 with only a few absences: one due to his wife and daughter's tragic deaths and the other due to a 7 month recuperation of two brain aneurysms.

Biden is no stranger to presidential campaigns. In 1984, he attempted a run for the highest office but failed to gain any real hope of winning. In 1988, he was considered to be the frontrunner for the party until a scandal overshadowed his campaign. While giving a stump speech in Iowa, he neglected to give credit to the speech's original author thus creating a plagiarism frenzy. Though he attempted to right the situation, the damage was done and Michael Dukakis became the party's candidate. When asked to join the race in 2004, Biden declined claiming he did not have the time to raise sufficient support. Instead, he encouraged John McCain to join John Kerry's campaign as his running mate. Biden said the joint ticket would help "heal the vicious rift dividing the U. S."¹

How Would Biden Hinder a Democrat Candidate?