Vice President Joe Biden’s roles in the Obama-Biden re-election tandem campaign: A commentary

Vice President Joe Biden’s roles in the Obama-Biden re-election tandem campaign: A commentary

By

Dhreff

Anchor for Allvoices

Olongapo City, Zambales

Central Luzon, Philippines

Philip Fernando of Asian Tribune.com reported on March 19, 2012 that the “First Salvo in U.S re-election battle was fired by Joe Biden”. Henceforth the Obama-Biden Democratic presidential and vice presidential re-election tandem pulled itself to roll in the 2012 U.S. presidential election campaign trail. Vice President Biden plays certain big roles in this campaign.

Vice President Biden is President Obama’s “go-to emissary-in-Chief”. Being such, he visited Toledo in Ohio he spoke to the blue collar crowd and said as quoted from Fernando, “I am laying out a clear and stark difference between us and our opponents,” Biden said. Ohio would be a vital state for Obama re-election. Meanwhile President Obama was speaking in Maryland, a Democratic pocket borough touting his credentials in foreign affairs... Further he said “others paid lip service to worker benefits and it was all about protecting the privileged sector” Fernando reported.

Prior to the President’s “go-to emissary-in-Chief” capacity, Vice President Biden was tagged as “Attack Dog for Obama’s Re-election” in a March 16, 2012 report of Kenneth T. Walsh. In this role, as quoted from Walsh “he is road-testing the themes that President Obama and the Democrats plan to use against the Republicans over the next eight months”. Walsh further said, “ he billed the upcoming election as a choice between "protecting the private sector" and "protecting the privileged sector."

Playing the role of “Attack Dog for Obama’s Re-election”, he went to six key battleground states – Ohio, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. He carried the mission “to frame the choice between Obama and the eventual Republican nominee. This is also what President Obama has been doing, in a more indirect way”.

Being an“Attack Dog” he sniffs traces of smells of the opponents along the campaign trail. Again, to quote from Walsh's report Biden said, "Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich—these guys have a fundamentally different economic philosophy than we do," Biden declared. "Our philosophy is one that values the workers in the success of a business...We are for a fair shot and a fair shake. They're about no rules, no risks, and no accountability." Biden added that, if elected president, Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich would "bankrupt the middle class."

The March 18, 2012 report of Brad Knickerbocker “Obama’s re-election campaign moves into high gear”, Knickerbocker cited the role of Vice President Biden in the Obama campaign as “including the unleashing of Vice President Joe Biden”. This referred to the occasions of where President Obama spoke during a “‘Lawyers for Obama Luncheon’” fundraiser at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. During such event Obama unleashed Joe Biden to do what the Vice President does best: stir the political pot with full throated campaign rhetoric designed to secure friends and needle political opponents.

Vice President Biden has performed well all the roles assigned to him to do in the Obama re-election campaign. The campaign goes on and still far from over. The versatility of Biden is further honed and enhanced in order to gather the most if not all votes needed to re-elect them both as president and vice president respectively.

Biden, being a “go-to emissary-in-Chief, an Attack Dog and Stirrer of the political pot to separate and secure friends and to eliminate the political opponents got the full trust and confidence of President Obama that he can do all the said roles. The Obama re-election campaign moves on forward following Biden’s advance attack as he smells the opponents along the way.