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Wilder's Anti-Biden Politico Piece Misses Reality
August 02, 2010 9:59 am ET by Joe Strupp

It is unclear why former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder penned a piece today in Politico calling for President Obama to drop Vice President Joe Biden in 2012 and make Hillary Clinton his running mate.

In the column, Wilder contends Biden's penchant for honest comments is driving away support and he needs Clinton to move in:

Can all the president's political ills be laid at Biden's feet? No. But Obama must look through his administration and make a wholesale change. The vice president should not be immune.

Clinton is better suited as the political and government partner that Obama needs.

I suggest this as one who vigorously supported Obama over Clinton in 2008. In fact, I campaigned across the country and engaged in spirited debates with former colleagues. I don't regret any of that. Yet, now I think Clinton brings bounty to the political table that few can match.

At one point he even compares Biden to desgraced BP boss Tony Hayward, who recently stepped down:

As BP chief executive, Tony Hayward said he wanted his life back, then went off on his yacht. The BP board wisely replaced him. What's so different about Biden saying, in the middle of several crises, that he wants to get back to politics when the people are craving leadership?

It all seems a bit of a stretch. Perhaps Wilder did not see the recent approval ratings for Biden, which have him above Obama:

"Vice President Biden, the annointed 'Sheriff' of the stimulus is well rated generally in a newWashington Post-ABC News poll, with public opinion driven by the views of the administration's economic programs as well as the usual sharp partisan lines," the Post wrote last week. "Overall, 55 percent approve of the way the Vice President is handling his job, 33 percent disapprove, similar to an August 2001 reading on former vice president Dick Cheney from CBS News (53 percent approved) but a bit lower than a Post-ABC reading on Bush's number two from April of that year (64 percent approved)."

It later adds: "Among those who are confident the president's plan will improve the economy, 80 percent approve of Biden, dubbed the stimulus' watchdog by the president, who said, 'Nobody messes with Joe'"


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