VP Joe Biden suddenly looks like the smartest politician in America -- Irish American VP goes where no other politicians dare in Washington D.C.
By: Niall O'Dowd | Published Friday, January 11, 2013, 9:30 AM | Updated Friday, January 11, 2013, 9:30 AM
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Vice President Joe Biden arrives to a House Democratic caucus meeting at the Capitol on Jan. 1, 2013. (Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg) |
Joe Biden is suddenly the most popular politician in Washington and a real contender for 2016. The latest opinion poll by
Public Policy shows him running a strong second to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination.
The Irish American Vice President, widely dismissed by the haughty press corps looking for the new and the beautiful, is at the very heart of the dramatic new initiatives by the Obama administration.
In a time of electoral gridlock, Biden appears to be the one figure who can reach out to the other side and force a civil discourse.
On the fiscal cliff he galloped to the rescue and cut the deal with Senator Mitch McConnell before riding off like the Lone Ranger. Opinion polls showed the public believed by a 57 per cent to 20 per cent margin that Biden’s deal was better for Democrats than Republicans.
Read more: The NRA will not allow Joe Biden to blame law-abiding gun owners for actions of madmen Now on gun control he is defying the conventional wisdom again and getting real traction behind his recommendations which he will deliver to the president next week.
He has met with the NRA, Walmart, and every major gun constituency, forcing a dialogue where none existed before and making clear that action will be taken to prevent another Sandy Hook.
Don’t rule out the possibility of a deal that Biden can craft that the NRA can get along with, strange as that may seem.
Biden notes there appears to be a near universal belief that more background checks are needed for all gun sales.
He is determined that action will occur.
"There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet, but we're compiling it all with the help the attorney general and all the rest of the cabinet members, as well as legislative action, we believe, is required," he said.
Sure the NRA said it was “disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment.’’
But everything is different after Sandy Hook and Biden knows it even if the NRA does not.
He is suddenly being noticed. “These weeks can continue to set him up as one of the few who can deliver in an era when no one thinks accomplishments can happen and everyone believes Washington is broken — an appealing position to be in as he considers his future,” a Biden loyalist told the Washington Post.
Maureen Dowd in The New York Times stated, “Mr. Biden can spread everything out on the table and negotiate his way through all of his former colleagues' shortcomings, weaknesses, fears and frailties.”
In a time when American politics is so polarized Biden has managed the extraordinary trick of being able to appear reasonable to both sides.”
Chris Cilliza, who writes the influential The Fix column for the Washington Post, wrote, “What’s apparent and indisputable over these past few weeks is that Biden has put himself at the center of the national political conversation in ways that have helped his boss but also himself.”
In this new political arena maybe a pol with old fashioned skills is what’s really needed. Joe Biden is certainly starting off 2013 on fire.
Next up, immigration reform for the miracle worker?
Read more: Gun nuts lose argument over assault weapons ban, threaten civil war - VIDEO
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.bonjouryall | Jan 16, 2013, 08:24 PM EST
And my impression of Biden is that he won't tell you much when it suits him but if he does tell you he'll do something, I think it's very likely he'll stick to it. Like the old time politicians.
bonjouryall | Jan 16, 2013, 08:03 PM EST
Biden is everything Obama is not. Yes, he is inarticulate and sometimes a goofball but he does have a lot of common sense. He likes politics and thus can make 'deals' with people he may disagree with.
Portia_O'Neill | Jan 14, 2013, 02:13 PM EST
More baloney from Niall O'Dowd.
seanomelb | Jan 12, 2013, 05:54 PM EST
Give me some proof Smynian!!
eiriamach | Jan 12, 2013, 02:53 PM EST
Well stated, McNamara31! Thanks for interesting story about Sullivan also.
McNamara31 | Jan 12, 2013, 11:45 AM EST
Joe is not the first Irishmen to push for sane gun regulation back in early New York, the Irish were the first to confront the need for gun control legislation when “Big Tim” Sullivan the Tammany Kingmaker pushed for the “Sullivan Act” of 1911. Many stories have been written about “Big Tim” his great bond with the people, of New York and his sad demise in later life. Sullivan was the author of the first gun regulation of his time. Commenting in a 2010 NYT article Sullivan’s grandson wrote of the reasoning behind his grandfathers "Sullivan Act" as: Big Tim had loaned a huge sum of money to a relative to start a printing business and purchase some real estate. Big Tim was in Europe at the time and when he got stateside, he realized that his cousin had swindled him out of a huge sum of money. In a rare fit of anger, Sullivan obtained a pistol and went to all of the offender’s haunts trying to locate him. Everyone concerned wanted to protect Big Tim from committing the unspeakable and wouldn't disclose the man’s whereabouts. In the end, Tim regained his composure and cooled off on a local park bench. He then realized how easily a pistol could be obtained and how it could have easily ruined his life. When he got back to Albany, he sought to do what he could to institute gun control measures. As in 1911 the same holds true today; guns must be controlled because human behavior and emotions can not.
darragh S | Jan 12, 2013, 05:24 AM EST
I know prompt discipline in the first instances is always productive but you have to have a long term strategy.
darragh S | Jan 12, 2013, 05:23 AM EST
For example the Target of the following message might be a 20 year old College Graduate with straight A grades whom has pushed himself to hard and now has Psychosis. (You would be surprised how common it is). 'Are you working to hard, are you tense, have your relationships with your familly and friends and other people in the community become non existent and now you feel like going out with your gun and shooting a more sociable less book inclined person and 20 kids in the head with a autmoatic rifle' If this sounds like you perhaps we can talk, and organise some valium and maybe a weekend at Lexington Lake. Please call 1800 Valium and lets discuss this further. Sometimes there is a hidden message in my humor.
darragh S | Jan 12, 2013, 05:17 AM EST
With 350 Million people in the US its believed that there are twice as many fire arms and half of which are legally obtained. Most of the Shootings are at close range with the odd exception such as the Serial Killer Sniper of Maryland for example. Statistics show that Young males are more likely to get shot in interpersonal violence where as older people tend to kill themselves. Only about 17% are Accidents, Most fatal and non fatal shootings are done by strangers not known to the victim. Being black is a major factor in the statistics. We already are aware of many of the causes of said behavior. Suicide, Antisocial personality Disorder, Substance abuse disorder etc. Even if you ban guns all your doing is shifting the offence catagory to a more serious because with only so many security persons issued in the US how on earth are you going to be able to police this massive problem. All you can do is stem the flow of legal fire arms sales however people will just find away around it. I think the secret is to look at the causes and results of the many incidents and draft public messages to these people about where to get help and fund the community centers to handle the calls.
Smyrnian | Jan 12, 2013, 04:58 AM EST
Sean - How do you know?
seanomelb | Jan 12, 2013, 01:03 AM EST
krisdaly shouting and not been heard. The creator never owned a gun in fact he does not exist.
irishpjk | Jan 11, 2013, 06:16 PM EST
That would all depend on who is doing the looking.
krisdaly | Jan 11, 2013, 06:08 PM EST
THE RIGHT OF ALL LAW ABIDING AMERICANS TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS, SHALL NOT, AND WILL NOT BE INFRINGED AS IT IS AN UNALIENABLE RIGHT GIVEN TO ALL AMERICAN'S BY THEIR "CREATOR"!!!
seanomelb | Jan 11, 2013, 04:30 PM EST
The minions at Fox tried hard to demonise Joe but he came through with flying colours.He's one of the smartest politicians in the US of A.
butlerreport | Jan 11, 2013, 02:55 PM EST
Absolute nonsense. The President is well aware that any interference with the 2nd amendment could well result in his impeachment. Biden is being used as he can't be damaged by floating trial balloons.
FastEddy | Jan 11, 2013, 12:47 PM EST
... Not! ... And being "the smartest politician" is not necessarily a compliment.
Nicomax | Jan 11, 2013, 12:38 PM EST
What a race in 2016! Biden vs. Christie- old vs. young, trim vs. tubby, Irish vs. half-Irish, but in any case the two windiest pols in many generations. No need for huge TV ads, just film them on the campaign trail.
71regiment | Jan 11, 2013, 12:07 PM EST
Niall, can't be serious about Joe Biden. This is the guy who puts his foot in his mouth with every other sentence.
89west | Jan 11, 2013, 11:32 AM EST
a whole lot of talk with little possibility of action!
Nicopernicus | Jan 11, 2013, 11:15 AM EST
@patrickaq and Padraig8, Clearly neither of you have a clue. The record speaks for itself. One need not be a Gun nut or a ammo clip packing sour grapes to recognize a severely inept man lathering at the politcal feet.
Eschetic | Jan 11, 2013, 11:11 AM EST
The extremists and haters of the American Right Wing who continue to heap scorn on Vice President Biden,ignoring his actual years of solid leadership and achievement in the Senate, merely reveal either their own ignorance or how terrified they are at what a formidable foe he will be if allowed to be taken seriously (they remember their own experience with an infinitely LESS qualified former Hollywood actor who ultimately became President). If Vice President Biden can restore the ban on assault weapons which the NRA so inexplicably fights or make further reforms beyond that in our mad love affair with deadly fire arms in the hands of unregulated civilians, he could and *should* be our next president.
patrickesq | Jan 11, 2013, 10:27 AM EST
Anyone who can craft a plan and legislation to pass reasonable gun control legislation deserves much respect and admiration. I suspect that your readers who ridicule and attach the capabilities and character of Vice President are fanatical gun rights people who are unable to have a reasonable thought or discussion about the need to have a more effective policy to prevent wholesale gun violence.
Padraig8 | Jan 11, 2013, 10:12 AM EST
What a bunch of sour grapes,you people amaze me obama picked him and he is a work horse for the office, RESULTS arewhat count and that is what he will get.Biden 2016
Nicopernicus | Jan 11, 2013, 10:05 AM EST
I am pleased as an American with the solid recognition below of what Biden is and what he reflects. Our incessant lust for the consummate politician double speak and general attempt to be the every day good guy, the do gooder of nations will be our demise. Biden is that poster boy.
jamieLM | Jan 11, 2013, 09:50 AM EST
I don't agree with your assessment of Biden's intellectual capabilities. If he's the "smartest", we're really in trouble.
jackinnj | Jan 11, 2013, 09:35 AM EST
The fact notwithstanding that he plagiarized his way through law school, this guy is as dumb as a bag of rocks.
CavanAncestor | Jan 11, 2013, 09:33 AM EST
Why kind of vegetation are you smoking. This is the safe buffoon that was there before. The Fourth Estate used to pick on Dan Quayle incessantly but can't find Biden on their radar. He's right there, ther one with both feet in his mouth. Anybody care to remember Joe when running for President against Candidate Obama. Recall him screaming about Obama not taking his shotguns.
kelauggie1 | Jan 11, 2013, 09:17 AM EST
This is a joke, right? He is a bumbling idiot doing the bidding of a nation-destroyer. This gets him the respect of Washington? That's why America's decline is so steep and rapid - when idiots are thought of as people to admire.
handsome68 | Jan 11, 2013, 08:54 AM EST
From what I read, VP Biden has a seemingly endless flow of blather, like his boss. Americans love talkers: FDR is an example. So did Germans: Hitler is another example. Talk that harnesses the zeitgeist is one thing, doing real good for one's country? That is another.
Nicopernicus | Jan 11, 2013, 08:42 AM EST
History will display Biden as a mouth piece...credibility is earned not taken.
wjb1tex | Jan 11, 2013, 08:32 AM EST
"----action will be taken to prevent another Sandy Hook."------------- Don't count on it. Action or no action will not stop the madness.