Consider Biden 2016

If I had to choose the single most underrated part of the Obama administration, my choice would be simple: Vice President Joseph R. Biden. And by the looks of his interview with Politico Magazine this month, Joe Biden might agree.

The piece paints a pretty vivid picture of a man the Obama administration has, at times, been hesitant to place in front of a room full of cameras and reporters.

No one can deny the vice president is a dynamo of a man, even by millennial standards.

Biden has a take-no-prisoners attitude that has led him to be gaffe-prone, if only because he does, in fact, keep it real.

Thus, it came as no surprise the vice president revealed he wants to be considered as a presidential contender for 2016.

This is big, considering the Democratic base has quietly coalesced around Clinton as the frontrunner for 2016.

The machinery is already moving for the former first lady.

Ready for Hillary, a super Political Action Committee engaged in a shadow campaign for Clinton two years before the 2016 election, spent more than $2.5 million in the last six months of 2013 alone.

So the announcement that the vice president wants to be considered for 2016 puts him in what many of us would consider to be an awkward situation.

But Joe Biden, being Joe Biden, doesn’t care.

Biden made it crystal clear when he appeared on “The View”  that Clinton’s decision about running wouldn’t affect his.  

So the same man who made the word “malarkey” famous during 2012 is calling malarkey on his detractors. They like to point out Clinton has a far better and more realistic shot at capturing the White House given her ability to bring together the Democratic base, Wall Street, middle America and independents. Clinton may be a big tent candidate, but I don’t think we should totally write off Biden. The vice president, given both his domestic and foreign policy experience, is just as qualified as Clinton to run for president if we’re talking qualifications alone.

But Biden offers something Hillary Clinton has had a hard time delivering: authenticity.
I admire Hillary Clinton deeply — so much so I supported her in the 2008 primary instead of then-senator Obama.

But Biden just seems like the sort of figure that can connect with the average Joe, in stark contrast to the above-the-fray detachment the president has shown and Clinton’s tightly-kept media image. America needs to feel good again, and Biden  seems primed for the role.

But back on earth, Biden’s most likely contribution may be keeping Clinton to the left. If he launches a primary challenge, he could take on the mantle of the more liberal candidate for progressives not interested in Clintonian centrism.  

Let us not forget Biden was the one that forced the Obama administration to come out in favor of same-sex marriage in 2012, after one of his more iconic Joe-being-Joe moments.

Biden could be the Aviators-wearing, liberal badass America deserves. It’s just unclear — as many look to Hillary Clinton — if Joe Biden is what American needs.  

edsalas@indiana.edu