Will Obama ditch Joe Biden? (Obama/McRaven 2012)

By Bernie Quigley

For The Hill on 5/16/12

As Karen Finney has suggested here, (Did Obama set a marriage trap for Romney?, The Hill’s Pundit Blog 5/10/12) Joe Biden’s accidental announcement on gay marriage might have been staged. This incident and the Obama follow up announcement seemed almost dumb and dumber compared to standard format of press relations and revelations. It could have been a tactical ploy; staging a diversion, only to head off in a completely new direction. Possibly they hoped to nail the same sex marriage issue and leave it behind entirely by tacking in an entirely new direction a week or so later. Leaving gay marriage behind with Joe Biden. Such a move would be both tactically inspired and ethically insidious.

Joe Miller, who ran for senate from Alaska and is a rising star in the Tea Party movement, says in his blog that Obama is considering ditching Biden. I’d suggested here that Obama needs to accommodate the heartland. Our era today has entered into Jacksonianism already and that surging country confidence is right now fortified by 29 heartland states opposing Obamacare and 30 opposing gay marriage. In the original Jackson period the eastern colonials had to go country to catch up, coming eventually to dominance with Abraham Lincoln. If Obama doesn’t do the same he could destroy the Democratic Party.

The best choice in this regard might be Montana governor Brian Schweitzer. Obama could also trump the Tea Party by bringing in a military man or woman as VP. Two years back Texas Governor Rick Perry joked that the only purpose for the federal government is to run the military, control immigration and deliver the mail. A military man should be considered as VP to emphasize that constitutionally ordained role of the Commander in Chief. In this, General Wesley Clark, former commander of NATO who ran for President in 2004 would be a good choice. Virginia’s multifaceted Senator Jim Webb, warrior, diplomat, writer, historian and friend of Obama, would also be excellent choices. Clark, from Arkansas, and Webb would  also have appeal to heartland voters.

Further, the appointment of Jay Carney as White House press secretary has advanced the impression that Obama is a nerd. His paling with Hollywood types creates the impression that he is a lightweight. Joe Biden brings incompetence to the administration and Secretary Clinton brings partisanship to state where it doesn’t belong and an absurd first term foreign policy legacy. Webb, Clark or Schweitzer would add ballast to the ticket.

“Washington is abuzz with rumors the president will replace Mr. Biden with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” writes Miller. “He ought to. Slow Joe is a national embarrassment.”

But Secretary Clinton would hand it to Mitt Romney in a walk.

The Obama administration is in a state of crisis and it has brought America to a state of crisis. They need to leave behind the statisticians and bean counters and enter a complete change of paradigm. One individual would countervail the flake, lightweight, incompetent and absurd factors and instantly establish a new paradigm: Obama’s commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, four-star admiral William McRaven, who led the attack on Osama bin Laden. This was Obama’s best moment.  He should build on this.