Quote of the Day:...what has been striking to many in the administration has been how strenuously the president has worked to include [Vice President Biden] and, perhaps most notably, the influence Mr. Biden appears to be wielding.-Excerpts from yesterday's New York Times profile of Vice President Biden.
Mr. Obama wanted his No. 2 to be a kind of über-adviser and interdisciplinary trouble-shooter...
Early indications are that the partnership has evolved as they had imagined. “I think he’s playing the role as ‘adviser in chief’ that he has foreseen,” [Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton said of Mr. Biden, adding that he was “involved in the whole agenda of the president.”
When both men are in town, Mr. Biden regularly makes the 17-step walk from his West Wing office to the president’s. They speak by phone (communicating rarely if ever by e-mail), and Mr. Obama will spontaneously call and ask the vice president to join him in meetings.
Mr. Biden attends Mr. Obama’s morning briefings on national security and the economy. He has full access to the president’s schedule and is free to attend anything.
Biden was my first choice for the Democratic presidential nomination in last year's primary contests. Needless to say, when Barack Obama put him on the ticket I was thrilled. From what is reported in the NY Times piece, it sounds like Biden is a tremendous asset to the President's White House team.
Can you imagine Sarah Palin running around the halls of the West Wing handing out advice on Afghanistan?
