American vice presidents are hardly remembered and the view here in Washington generally is that the nominees contribute little to the electability of a would-be president, unless they come from a major state. More importantly, their role in the day-to-day conduct of US administrations, in the domestic or foreign spheres is usually limited, if not marginal.
Of course, their actions are sometimes noteworthy, or embarrassing as in the case of Dan Quayle, who could not spell the word "potato" or Spiro Agnew who was compelled to resign in 1973 on charges of accepting bribes. The more prominent ones include Lyndon B. Johnson, who took over after president John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
The bombshell that Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama, dropped in the wee hours of one morning recently - the surprise selection of Senator Joe Biden of Delaware as his running mate - fell with a thud. The vice-presidential nominee surfaced with a bag full of good and bad news, and an acknowledgment from Obama that he would need his help in conducting foreign affairs should he move into the White House.
Short-lived candidacy
Biden has been in the senate since 1972, days after he turned 30. In 1987, he announced his short-lived candidacy for president, and last July he was eliminated from his party's presidential primary. Throughout his career in the Senate, his primary focus was on foreign affairs and at present he is the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Despite his vast experience and extensive travels overseas, his record, especially on the Middle East, is checkered and many in the region would consider it disappointing. Much as Obama may have raised expectations there, Biden will have to embellish his stance forthwith to keep these hopes high.
His earlier views on Iraq, under US occupation since 2003, were disastrous; he advocated the partitioning of the country into three autonomous regions - Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish. His suggestion underscored his ignorance of the fact that Iraqis (except possibly for some Kurdish elements) abhorred partition. But the ensuing outcry in the Arab world led the senator to drop his suggestion, even from his website.
Moreover, his proposal prompted many Iraqi leaders to come together and profess unity anew. At present he has aligned himself with Obama, a junior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Both are critical of the Bush administration's policies there but Biden has not advocated US withdrawal.
But the issue that is bound to raise the blood pressure of many an Arab are his views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a respected professional group that delves regularly into foreign affairs and whose members include many former high-ranking government officials, describes Biden on its website as a "self-described Zionist."
In an interview with an American Jewish newspaper, Biden, often described as "a long-winded orator", has adamantly rejected the suggestion made by "some on the [American] left that the United States should develop a more neutral posture towards Israel".
He explained, "In my 34-year career, I have never wavered from the notion that the only time progress has ever been made in the Middle East is when the Arab nations have known that there is no daylight between us and Israel." In other words, he continued, "... the idea of being the 'honest broker' is not I think, like some of my Democratic colleagues call for, the answer. It is being the smart broker, it is being the smart partner."
The CFR website also noted that Biden dismissed the "claim" by the Iraq Study Group, led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Congressman Lee H. Hamilton, that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is related to the problems of the Iraq War, arguing in a television interview that Israel's behaviour has "nothing to do" with Iraq.
Position on Iran
But what has irked some in the American Jewish community has been Biden's position on Iran. In Israel he is also seen as being "inconsistent" on the alleged Iranian nuclear threat. Ha'aretz said that the senator "has said more than once that he does not think that isolating Iran is the most efficient way to combat the Islamic republic's nuclear ambitions, and he has even urged sensitivity to Iran's needs". Yet, he maintains that a nuclear Iran is "unacceptable".
Biden was unable to convince the Bush administration to drop its opposition to Israeli peace overtures towards Syria. But he was able to convince the Clinton administration to arm the Bosnian Muslims during the Balkans war in the mid-1990s, something he reportedly considers his most important foreign policy accomplishment.
This mixed and colourless bag of Biden is yet another reason why the long-winded promises of "change" advocated by Obama must begin to unravel, considering the stagnant Middle East trouble-spots, and the recent flare-ups in Georgia, North Korea, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
George Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He can be contacted at ghishmeh@gulfnews.com.
