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Biden for VP?

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BY ROBERT D. NOVAK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 16, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C - Before multimillionaire Democratic power broker James A. Johnson quit as Sen. Barack Obama's chief vice presidential screener, the name that came to the fore in his internal discussions was 65-year-old, six-term Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware.

Biden, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, made a good impression in his losing bid for the presidential nomination this year. The downside on him is that he talks too much. But he provides expertise and experience in national security that Obama lacks and, as a Catholic, adds cultural diversity to the ticket.

A footnote: Presidential supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton who are possibilities for vice president include Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

McCain's Non-VPs

Sources close to Sen. John McCain say the Republican presidential candidate likes the idea of Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman, re-elected from Connecticut as an independent in 2006, or former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge - if he could get away with it. The political consensus is that McCain couldn't get away with either, and he knows it.

Lieberman, one of McCain's closest Senate friends, vigorously supports him for president and sometimes joins him on the campaign trail. However, Lieberman opposes Republican policy on nearly everything except Iraq, where he has backed the war effort.

Ridge, who served as President Bush's secretary of homeland security, is a generally conservative Republican except for being pro-choice on abortion. He was considered for vice president in 1996 and 2000, but was ruled out both times because of the abortion issue.

Boxing In Boxer
Senate staffers of both parties say Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, the Environment Committee chairman, did a poor job managing the failed global warming bill. They want somebody else handling the issue in the next Congress.

Boxer was criticized for pressuring Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring up a bill to raise energy taxes when gasoline was $4 a gallon.

Critical staffers would like to see global warming handled next year by Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Energy Committee chairman, or Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, Finance Committee chairman.

Robert D. Novak's column is distributed by the Creators Syndicate Inc.

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