Giving Biden a Room of His Own

In an age of expanded executive power where the vice president plays a significant role in domestic and foreign affairs, what do you do with a Number Two who is a complete dolt? Give him a job that offers a relatively empty task where he can't hurt himself and others around him, particularly the president.

Behold Joe Biden's task force to bolster the middle class. This little gem follows the same model I noted yesterday about how Obama will best be able to measure his administration's success by establishing goals that cannot be measured. For instance, boosting the size and equity of the middle class may be measurable, but how certain can we ever be certain that it will grow naturally over the next four years or that it will grow only with Biden's help?

Judging Biden's history of verbal gaffes, political miscues, and outright ignorance of the real world around him, I'm going to cautiously err that the middle class will grow in spite of him, not because of him.

Obama knows that Biden is not the sharpest knife in the kitchen. You can tell by the way Biden was handled during the general election campaign. The closer we got to November 4th, the less you saw Biden in public. Less of a chance for him to stick a fork in an electrical outlet that way.

Why Obama picked Biden of all people as his running mate is a mystery to me. With his popularity he could have chosen Larry the Cable Guy and still won the White House. But Biden has to be given something to do.

Hence, bolstering the middle class. It's safe, non-toxic, and Biden is unlikely to accidentally poke his eye out with it.