Joe Biden Understands

I have long had a soft spot for Joe Biden.  It dates back to his days in the Senate and to the sympathies he always has for blue collar workers, for single moms, for folks just trying to get by and make life a little better for themselves and their children.  He seems to me a guy who loves his family, who knows that bad luck befalls us all, who believes that the best we can do when that happens is to pick up the pieces and move forward, however incrementally, no matter how hard that is.  He knows that we can - and should - help one another.

He comes by this knowledge the hard way, as a man who lost his first wife and a daughter in a car accident and found himself trying to be the only parent to his two young sons, while serving as Delaware's Senator and managing his own grief.  A few months ago, TPM writer David Kurtz wrote thoughtfully about that very event.  

So I watched last night's debate with a pretty strong bias, knowing that Joe Biden may sometimes be a little emotional, may sometimes be a bit of loose cannon, and sometimes the attack dog half of the Obama-Biden team.  Oh, Joe, we might say.  But folks, let's not lose sight of the reality on the table this November.  One of these men is going to be the Vice President; the person who takes over and leads this nation if the unthinkable happens.  For that reason alone, there is no question in my mind that Joe Biden should serve another four years as President Obama's Vice President.  Because Joe Biden is a man who truly knows what it means to do right.