As Joe would say, “this is big f*cking deal.”
(Chicago Tribune) — Yet with a new political order in Washington, the success of Obama’s presidency hinges more and more on the negotiating skills and political instincts of his No. 2.
Facing a revived Republican Party, the White House is expected to increasingly deploy Biden as a presidential surrogate to find compromises and coax reluctant lawmakers into crossing party lines. Even Biden’s penchant for veering off message is being re-evaluated inside the White House as a bridge to ordinary voters who appreciate blunt talk.
A model for Biden’s role in the next session of Congress was the recent passage of the New START nuclear arms treaty with Russia. Biden, who built a reputation as a foreign policy expert during his 36 years in the Senate, prevailed in an internal White House debate over whether to press for ratification in the lame-duck session. Some White House advisers had worried that the votes weren’t in hand and that a defeat would weaken the president at home and abroad.
David Axelrod, a senior advisor to Obama, said Biden proved to be “an all-star player.”
Inside the White House, aides have developed a special Biden rule. Rather than squirm over the latest Biden gaffe, the administration treats it as plainspoken candor that may appeal to a portion of the electorate that is unmoved by Obama’s disciplined, explanatory rhetoric.
…The rest of the White House is coming around to the idea that sometimes what the vice president says that’s off-message is just a really blunt and colorful way of expressing a truth, and they should embrace that,” said an administration official who requested anonymity to speak more candidly about the matter.