Biden: The New Model for VPs?

The role of the Vice President has changed significantly over time. Originally the Constitution stated that the person with the second most electoral votes would become Vice President. However, due to Aaron Burr the VP is now selected to office when they run on the same ticket as their president.

In terms of public opinion many people don’t even know what the Vice President does or in some cases they don’t even know the Vice President’s name. A Newsweek study conducted with 1,000 people shows that 29% of the people surveyed couldn’t even name the Vice President (Joe Biden) in 2011, however by the end of 2016, Biden is considered one of the most popular and trendy VPs in history. Did the Biden Vice Presidency make way for a new era of VPs who take stronger stances and appeal on more than a formal level to the American people?

When choosing a running mate, Presidents usually base their picks off of a specific audience they are trying to hit, that they can’t quite reach themselves. For example, John McCain chose Sarah Palin to appeal to women, Obama chose Biden to appeal to white males. However, because many believe the Vice President’ job is to generally echo the policy of the candidate they’re running with, and not take on much responsibility, it was a shock to see Biden so hands on and constantly in the public eye taking his own major stances politically. Joe Biden was an extremely successful Senator in the state of Delaware, he came with high approval ratings and was well received by the American public. The expectations of a Vice President are pretty low in America, and even though Dick Cheney had a good amount of influence in the White House it didn’t really alter the narrative or role of the VP. Biden was able to change this narrative, During the 2012 campaign, Biden himself made this clear when he boasted: “I literally get to be the last guy in the room with the President. That’s our arrangement.” From the very start of his term, President Obama has relied heavily on Biden to help him develop and push his domestic and foreign policy agenda. Biden is also the Vice President with the largest social media following, he was able to keep the American people constantly updated on the progress he was making, and initiatives he pushed. Not to mention, he challenged Obama to take clear issues on stances like Gay Marriage. These things ultimately led many journalists to pen pieces labeling Biden as the “most powerful ever”. Biden took it upon himself to go beyond the normal role of Vice President and made it a point to become a familiar face, especially to the youth. In his push to get people out and vote/register to vote, he was able to connect with young people. Also his ability to laugh at himself, and share/comment on memes made him seem like a very down to earth person. In a CNN poll conducted at the end of 2017, Biden had an approval rating of 57%, 6 in 10 Americans were pleased with the job he had done. So is the outspoken, influential, hands on VP the model that will prove most successful in America?

The initiative that Biden took as Vice President allowed many Americans to view the role differently. How can Vice Presidents continue to push past the stigma of their office?

Sources: http://gawker.com/5783852/nearly-one-third-of-americans-dont-know-who-the-vice-president-is

https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/11/opinions/what-does-vice-president-do-opinion-zelizer/index.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/07/do-we-really-need-a-vice-president/303371/

https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/22/politics/biden-poll-analysis/index.html

7 Responses to "Biden: The New Model for VPs?"

Katherine Breed says:

April 12, 2018 at 12:32 pm

Kayla,

Thank you for your post! I think Joe Biden is a Vice President who stands out and someone who breaks the typical mold of what a VP should act like. It was smart of Obama to put a person in his corner that doesn’t agree with him on every issue because it shows the public that he was trying to represent the whole population. Joe Biden using social media as a tool in reaching voters is something I think many VP’s should be doing. This say in age social media is embedded into our society. Most young voters use social media platforms as their source for daily news. Targeting the younger demographic is how candidates win because these are the future voters. In class when we talked about what we look for in a president many students agreed that we would want someone who is relatable and likeable. I think the same characteristics apply to what Americans would want in Vice President as well. As you said Biden’s ability to laugh at himself through social media has put him in the popular vote for most of Americans. I think this is what is proving to be successful and a model for future VP’s. I really enjoyed reading your post!
Thomas Cody says:

April 15, 2018 at 12:17 am

Kayla,
Thanks for a great post! I agree that Biden had a great ability to connect to people and get them excited to vote which greatly benefitted Obama in both elections. I cannot help but wonder if the lack of ability to relate to people or not having the “coolness” factor hurt Tim Kaine and the Clinton team back in 2016. Although Mike Pence is a fairly boring politician, it actually helped balance out the wildness of Trump. For Clinton, she needed a more excitable candidate especially to win over younger voters. Time Kaine and Hilary Clinton both lack the ability to connect to the average American and this I think hurt their side greatly. It will be interesting to see if the next democratic VP candidate will be more like a Joe Biden or a Time Kaine.
Haley Overlander says:

April 15, 2018 at 4:38 pm

Kayla,

Thanks for your interesting post on the importance of the role of Vice President. I believe that when choosing a VP, a president must consider how to balance out his own views with his running mate’s views in order to generate a greater following, which is primarily what I believe Obama did. Choosing a running mate that broadens a leader’s perspectives and ideas rather than simply reiterating them, I believe, is key to a successful presidency. Joe Biden’s ability to connect with a younger demographic and to sustain such a high level of influence over two terms, makes him extremely unique to the vice presidency.

According to Joel Goldstein of the Washington Post, “Biden consistently drew significant assignments, such as implementing the economic stimulus plan, negotiating various budget deals with Republican congressional leaders, and leading numerous missions to international trouble spots” (Goldstein). Biden never took a back seat during 8 years of assistance to the president, but rather, always chose to further the president’s initiatives and worked to help strengthen the presidency with his vice-presidential duties. Biden’s choice to actively stand in the social media spotlight rather than fall in the shadows behind the president, was also key to his fame in the American public eye.

In today’s day in age, relevance in social media is key, and Biden was able to connect through social media on a level of friendliness and commonality as well as relay important presidential decisions and initiatives to the public. This idea of keeping the American public and the presidency on an ‘open communication’ platform through social media, definitely contributed to Biden’s popularity as VP. Goldstein states that, “[Biden’s] ability to serve loyally while preserving a public identity required discipline but protected his value as a public spokesperson, to the administration’s benefit…Biden [left] the vice presidency a stronger office, with more possibilities to contribute to governing…that is a very big deal” (Goldstein). Overall, I believe that Biden did set a higher standard for the vice presidency, however, it is up to future vice presidents individually to hold themselves to those standards, and given the current president for example, I don’t think that there is much spotlight to be shared among the president and the VP.

Source:

Goldstein, Joel. “Analysis | Why Joe Biden Was a Most Unusual – and Effective – Vice President.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 18 Jan. 2017, http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/01/18/why-joe-biden-was-a-most-unusual-and-effective-vice-president/?utm_term=.e9fdfdb69bc4.
Stephanie Ellicott says:

April 15, 2018 at 11:36 pm

Kayla, thank you for taking the time to write this interesting post. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I definitely agree with you. Many people have no idea what the Vice President does or how they appear on the ticket. To be completely honest, it really was not until Joe Biden that I even paid attention to the VP. Actually, if we’re being honest, it wasn’t until Sarah Palin ran as VP with John McCain in the 2008 election and made some pretty outlandish (and quite comical) comments that I truly paid attention. To me, the VP has always seemed secondary and never really in the spotlight.

But Joe Biden is far from not in the spotlight. From his stance on gay marriage and equality to his ice cream dates with President Obama, people all over the world have adored Biden and his ability to stand out and have an opinion.

A video clip in particular that I believe truly reflects the type of compassionate leader Biden is is when he speaks with John McCain’s daughter, Meghan, about her sick father and how Biden himself has dealt with the devastating effects of cancer, as his son had passed away from the illness years ago. Although he does not agree with most of the policies and political beliefs of John McCain, Biden puts their differences aside and comforts Meghan in her time of need (see video clip at bottom).

In my opinion, it is raw instances like these that we should be seeing not only in the leader of the free world, but also his/her “right hand man.” I completely agree with you that this position should be more highly valued than it has been in the past, and Joe Biden has done a phenomenal job in leading that movement.

Again, thank you for your interesting post.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sa8G-VR13Q
Everett Harper says:

April 15, 2018 at 11:52 pm

Kayla,

Thanks for your insightful post! Regardless of whether or not someone supports the policies of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, I think that most people can agree that Joe Biden and Barack Obama had a likable factor about them. I believe that Joe Biden’s success as the Vice President was largely due to voters ability to assimilate themselves to him. He was not a black and white suit and tie kind of guy. He seemed like your average man that anyone could be comfortable holding a conversation with. This likable factor that he had played a large part in how the people viewed President Obama too. Joe Biden appealed to young voters which gave more exposure to the policies that Obama was proposing. I believe that the job of the Vice President should be to balance out the weaknesses of the President. I also think that the Vice President and President should have a very good relationship so that they appeal to voters. Great post!
Jennifer Munnings says:

April 17, 2018 at 11:03 am

Kayla,

Thank you for your interesting post. Like you say, Vice Presidents often are forgotten, a lot of people do not know the specifics of their position, and often people cannot identify their own VP. Joe Biden however broke this mold. Using social media, he was able to connect to the youth and became someone the people adored. He pushed policy that was also important to young people and encouraged them to vote. The Vice President typically does not have a lot of power, Biden however ensured that he and Obama were working closely together in the development of policy. Pence however is not following in Biden’s footsteps and it is affecting his approval ratings. Where Biden’s lowest approval rating was 48.1% Pence’s highest is 43.9%. Maybe Pence should take a page out of Biden’s book in order to better appeal to the people.
Samuel Lambeth says:

May 6, 2018 at 1:53 am

Kayla,

I thought your post’s topic was interesting because most people only think the Vice President is a figure head with little influence on passing legislation. However, you chose to argue elsewise by explaining Biden’s impact on what President Obama implemented and pushed for. You pointed out that Biden encouraged Obama to take a stance with gay rights. As I read that part of your post, I began to wonder if Obama would have initiated the movement to make gay marriage legal if Vice President Biden didn’t push him. I’m not fully aware of Biden’s connections or prior experiences with advocating for social issues, such as gay rights. This would be another interesting topic to research about since this was one of Obama’s biggest accomplishments during his presidential terms. Not only did Obama’s Vice President have a great level of influence on controversial issues, but so did the first lady while in office. Michelle Obama and her full staff also took on many initiatives to solve daily concerns of the public. Great job on your post Kayla!

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