Senator Biden on George W. Bush

Senator Biden is finally making a more serious bid for president by making trips to Iowa. Here's an AP story by Mike Glover on what Biden had to say about Bush:

President Bush has staked out a hardline position on Iraq that is out of step with even his top military advisers and leaves the United States few options, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden said in Iowa Tuesday.

"With him digging himself in (Monday), he went even beyond what I'm confident his military advisers are saying, that under no circumstances are we going to leave," Biden said.

(snip)

Biden argued that Bush's stance is so rigid it will be difficult for him to change - and that it will lock the United States into a deadly war for the foreseeable future.

"He doesn't have much of a theory but he's got a lot of opinions and he holds to them very firmly," Biden said.

Of the last six presidents or so, Bush knows the least about the Middle East with the possible exception of Ronald Reagan. Opinions and advisers going every which way in the Bush administration is no way to run a foreign policy after five years in office; some lower level Bush advisers are even famous for sticking their fingers up in the air to see which way the winds are blowing so they can adjust their 'advice.' Part of the problem is that the advisers themselves don't seem to know what Bush's policies are because Bush has made such mush of his own foreign policy; for Bush, it's full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes; but he hasn't a clue about the Middle East or the consequences of his policies. I should also note that the last president to be as rigid as Bush was Herbert Hoover who did nothing for the longest time as America sank into the Great Depression 75 years ago.

Joe Biden knows foreign policy backwards and forwards. He isn't always the most disciplined politician, but he's clearly one of the most able people in the Senate. If he doesn't win the Democratic nomination, I hope someone considers him for one of the main cabinet positions.

One thing that would help Biden perhaps is explaining how he tried for a long time to help Bush but that Bush is a poor listener. It's an important story for Americans to understand and Biden is uniquely qualified to tell it.

Speaking of other presidential possibilities, I noticed the AP story also mentioned the following:

Tuesday's event benefited Loebsack, a Cornell College professor and longtime Democratic activist, who is running against incumbent Republican Rep. Jim Leach in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District.

Loebsack, who is an underdog in his race, has been the beneficiary of visits from several Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Biden, Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.

It's great to see these familiar Democrats making the rounds and I hope they show up around the country wherever there are close races.