No ordinary Joe

It would be hard to construct a more qualified candidate for president of the United States than Joe Biden. Two terms as vice president, a long career in the U.S. Senate, chairmanship of that body’s most important committees, Judiciary and Foreign Relations. There should be a sadness that time ran out for him to mount his third presidential campaign. It would have been invigorating for the country.

Biden is a working-class guy from Pennsylvania, and it shows. It shows in his direct speech, which sometimes has gotten him into trouble, though a lot of that trouble has been blown up by the Washington “gotcha” media. It shows in his connections with his now-home state of Delaware, for which he served more than 35 years in the U.S. Senate. It shows in his ability to understand the needs and the hopes and the dreams of average Americans.

And it shows, yes, in his humanity. It was Biden, a liberal Democrat, who led the Washington delegation to the funeral of his friend, North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms. It was Biden who delivered the eulogy for the late Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. And it was Joe Biden who almost ended his Senate career before it began after the death of his wife and child in an automobile accident shortly after he was elected in 1972.

Biden carried on, but the recent death of his son, Beau, seems to have made him more introspective. He has acknowledged that his grief would make it difficult for him to be a presidential candidate. That is America’s loss, just as Joe Biden’s long service was America’s gain.

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 7:15 PM with the headline "No ordinary Joe."