Biden, Obama's Weakness or Strength?

Choosing Senator Joseph Biden, with a history of supporting the Iraq war and the country’s dissection on his record, can be counted as a weakness for the Democratic candidate in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

The U.S. Vice President position, which is used as a prominence point in the presidential election, is considered as the second highest official position in the United States. Although this position’s responsibilities are still limited, the law charges the Vice President with two responsibilities: he is considered as the unofficial head of the Senate. When the votes are equal in the Senate, his vote will be counted to prevent a deadlock.

The Vice President has also a much more important responsibility. He is considered as the president’s surrogate in case of death, absence or incapability of the president himself and carries out the responsibilities of the highest position in the country.

In such circumstances, the Vice President chooses an assistant for himself that needs to be confirmed by Congress. For example Harry Truman replaced Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945 and Lyndon Johnson carried out the task after John Kennedy’s death.

From about 20 years ago, especially between 1993-2001, during the Vice Presidency of Albert Arnold Gore, also known as Al Gore, the U.S. Vice President’s responsibilities expanded and Al Gore was known as one of the most active Vice Presidents of the United States.

Although Al Gore didn’t have a good understanding and adherence with Hilary Clinton, he successfully managed to create an effective and vast cooperation with Bill Clinton. The former Tennessee senator is also famous for leading government reformations and signing the commercial free zone contract with Mexico and Canada.

Richard Bruce “Dick” Cheney also empowered this position during the time he was entitled as the Vice President of the United States. He has been in this position during George Bush’s presidency since 2001. He is the 46th Vice President of the United States. Cheney had great influence on choosing the members of cabinet and even on the U.S. military and multinational force attack on Iraq.

The Vice President of the United States has the chance to take the presidency position. Among the U.S. Vice presidents, 14 of them have been able to get the position, 9 of which have entered the Presidential suite as a result of a death of a president. Two of them, Martin Van Buren in 1836 and George Bush the father, in 1988 were directly elected for presidency. George Bush, the father, was the U.S. Vice President during Ronald Reagan’s presidency for eight years.

Two of the U.S. Vice Presidents failed in achieving the top U.S. position: Walter Mondale, who was defeated by Ronald Regan in the 1981 election, and Al Gore who was defeated by George Bush in the 2000 presidential election. It is worthy to mention that according to recent polls, 30% of Americans believe that the Vice President greatly affects their choice of vote for the president.

Barak Obama, the Democratic candidate of the U.S. presidency has chosen an experienced politician of the United States for the Vice Presidency position. 65 years old, Joseph Baden is an experienced politician who has been in the business since 1973 as a U.S. Senator. He was also one of the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has been active in the committee for over 30 years. He is considered one of the preeminent specialists of the Democratic Party in foreign policy. By choosing Biden, Obama is aiming to balance the fight against McCain. Biden has tried for presidency twice before, but failed both times.

Experts believe that Biden, who has advanced from the blue collar level to the top, can bring in blue collar votes and the states which have not yet had a clear vote such as Pennsylvania.

It is worthy to mention that the Iraq dissection plan that was sanctioned in the U.S. senate a while ago was actually offered by Biden. He also has a record of supporting the Iraq war which can be a weakness point for Obama and his position, although Biden later expressed his regret for the record. Obama choosing Biden as his running mate is a start for him to become the 47th Vice President of the United States.