(MintPress) — In the lull before the Democrat and Republican national conventions, media attention has largely been focused on the vice presidents, with Joe Biden playing the role of aggressive incumbent and Paul Ryan as the controversial new face to the race.
Vice presidents rarely play a pivotal role in a presidency, serving instead as a sounding board and representative of the president. There have been nine instances in U.S. history when vice presidents have taken over — eight times due to death, one due to the Richard Nixon resignation. This doesn’t put the odds in favor of imminent rule, but it does say a lot about who a candidate wants representing their side.
According to a recent New York Times/CBS poll, only 26 percent of Americans thought the vice president mattered a lot when it came time to cast their ballots — 48 percent said it mattered somewhat. This was relating to the 2012 campaign, however.
The attention on the vice president candidates has come at a paused time in the race — both the Republicans and Democrats have cemented their candidates, and they’re now riding out until the conventions, after which the campaigns will gain even more momentum with debates and an uptick in political advertisements.
Biden, who visited Minneapolis Tuesday on a campaign stop, came under fire last week for telling a predominantly African-American crowd on an Obama campaign stop in Virginia that Romney wanted to put them back in chains. He was referring to Wall Street regulations and the implications lifting regulations would have on the working class.
“Look at what they value and look at their budget and what they’re proposing,” he told the Virginia crowd. “Romney wants to let the — he said in the first 100 days he’s going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. Unchain Wall Street. They’re going to put ya’ll back in chains.”
The comments weren’t met well by the Romney campaign, who accused the vice president of using a racial comment to insinuate his policies would put them, once again, in slavery. Yet the harsh media attention and criticisms by the Romney campaign didn’t stop Biden Tuesday in Minneapolis from speaking his mind, using much of the same rhetoric in explosive fashion, minus the chains remark.
In a sense, Biden did his job. He played the role of cheerleader, which at this point in the game is essentially the role of the vice president.
Stepping away from attacks
Biden referred to Romney several times during his Minneapolis speech as a good and decent man — a move that arguably offsets remarks made by the Romney campaign that Obama’s crew has become the party of attack and disrespect.
Yet despite his acknowledgement of cordial behavior, Biden did emphasize what he saw as stark differences between Obama and Romney.
“I’ve never run against a presidential candidate that is a decent guy, but more out of touch than Mr. Romney,” he said.
He acknowledged there’s no secret what the American people will have in store if they vote for the Romney-Ryan ticket, emphasizing the campaign promises to trim the budget through what Biden said would come at the hands of the working class — the ones in need of services and tax breaks.
“These guys aren’t hiding the ball, they tell us exactly what they think,” he told the crowd.
Biden ran with the theme of cuts — cuts to medicaid, education and research, to name a few. And in a move sure to be counterattacked by the Romney campaign, Biden paired the new Republican candidate with George W. Bush, claiming the deficit that was handed to Obama came from eight years of similar cuts.
“Folks, we’ve seen this move before, and we know how it works,” he said, taking his suit coat off and settling in with the crowd.
The only difference he pointed out was this: “Their program is the last administration’s on steroids.”
Biden’s main message Tuesday was clear — Romney and Obama will produce, respectively, two entirely different Americas. According to Biden, the Obama America will focus on the middle class, saying he would “grow economy from the middle class out.”
“Show me their budget, and I will show you what they value,” he said.
In response to the would-be response from opponents, Biden went on to list the accomplishments of the president, claiming the last four years have seen an increase in manufacturing jobs and growth in the private sector.
While not touching in-depth on foreign policy, Biden did mention the death of Osama bin Laden, a point that was met by tremendous applause from the audience. In a light-hearted, yet somewhat serious tone, Biden pitched an idea for a bumper sticker: “Osama bin Laden is Dead, and General Motors is Alive.”
Moving away from “Mr. nice guy,” Biden took on an aggressive approach, calling on Romney to release his tax returns and dropping comments relating to offshore bank accounts, the Cayman Islands and outsourcing practices at Bain Capital, Romney’s former company — using all of these issues to drive home the point that Romney is out-of-touch.
“This is not your father’s Republican Party,” he said.
Cheering on the president
In true vice president fashion, Biden gave his fair share of praise to Obama, depicting him as a man of unwavering confidence and conviction — one who puts the nation before a political agenda.
“This guy has a backbone like a ramrod,” Biden said, describing what he’s learned about the president during their four years together. Prior to that, Biden said he helped Obama campaign for senator, claiming he knew even then that he had what it takes to lead.
He drove home the issues that have stood as cornerstones for the democratic ticket, shouting to the crowd that women will be able to control their bodies, that social security and Medicare will be protected and that tax breaks should be taken away from the oil companies and given back to the people.
“They’re doing very well, thank you, right now.” he said, referring to big oil.
Despite calls for Biden to step down as vice president, it was clear Tuesday that those who gathered in Minneapolis to see the vice president speak liked what he had to say and were energized to get out and do what they can to have Obama elected.
Based on that, it seems Biden fulfilled his purpose.