Toothless Joe

There always seem to be an "alternating current" in management.

When I was in Korea, the commanding general was big on quality of life issues. He was followed by a hard-ass who focused on readiness. A struggling baseball team fires a "player's coach" and replaces him with a "disciplinarian." (It also works the other way around too.)

In short, the folks who do the hiring think the new guy has the strengths of his predecessor and will also - simultaneously - compensate for his weaknesses too.

I would add that Joe Biden was selected (don't laugh Republicans -- Sarah Palin also fitted the bill) to be an alternative to Dick Cheney.

Now Cheney isn't a popular guy with Big Media. (Those guys who do well with Big Media tend to suck up to them.) Biden of course is, more or less, adored. In other words, nobody knows Cheney as well as they know Biden -- so speculation tends to make up for the factual shortcomings.

The problem -- for want of a better word -- is that Biden is overcompensating. Where Cheney could be viewed as thinking, deliberative and serious -- Biden is coming off as the opposite.

Take his current junket with his Senate cronies. Obama is working on his first 100 days plan and Biden isn't in the room. In fact, he's getting silly badges from the Pakistan government. (Click here to see the badge.)

Moreover, he's not the Vice President yet. Furthermore, nobody knows how much of a foreign policy heavyweight he will be in the Administration. Hillary Clinton will be the Secretary of State and a somewhat diminished John Kerry will be swinging away as the incoming chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs committee.

The visited leaders are making nice to him but whether they respect him also remains to be seen.

Hopefully, if the theory holds, will get a better Veep in 4 to 8 years.