Conflicting Observations.

Filed in Delaware by on November 17, 2008

Alright, the national media reported the following observations and considerations regarding the timing of Joe Biden’s resignation as Senator and the appointment of his replacement.

  • Biden says he does not want to resign his seat right away, leading some to speculate that he does not want Ruth Ann Minner to appoint his successor.
  • To do that, he will wait until moments before his swearing in as Vice President to resign the Senate, so as to deny Minner the opportunity to appoint, leaving Jack Markell the power to appoint his successor.  Remember, Markell is sworn in as Governor on January 20 as well.
  • Biden has been said for some time to be grooming his son Beau to succeed him in the Senate. Beau is currently Delaware’s Attorney General. He is on leave while he serves on active duty in the Delaware National Guard, where he is a captain.
  • The consensus is that a placeholder will be appointed to allow Beau to run in 2010, but that consensus also says John Carney is the choice for the placeholder appointment.
  • Delaware Secretary of State Harriet Windsors Smith is also considered a possible placeholder appointment.

Ok.  The National Media is pretending like Ruth Ann Minner has some adverse relationship with Joe Biden and will not do what she is told.   Like RAM has ever not done what her puppetmasters wanted.   But Biden’s delay in resigning does raise an interesting question as to what he is waiting for and what his motives are.

The CW for decades, as I have often said, is that Joe wants Beau to replace him.   I think that, yes, it may be true that Joe wants to see Beau in the U.S. Senate some day and has been grooming him for the job over the years.   But I also do not think Joe Biden will be so overt in making that dream come true.  For it is not supported by his past actions.   Beau could have been appointed directly in 2005 to the vacant Attorney General position.   Instead Beau ran for it on his own.     And Beau may well run for the U.S. Senate in 2010.   And if Joe wants that, then Ruth Ann Minner is now his new best friend.   For RAM will be perfectly happy in following orders and appointing her own Secretary of State, Harriet Windsor Smith, who would be a true placeholder.

John Carney is no placeholder.   It would be the epitomy of disrespect for Joe or Beau Biden, or any Delaware Democrat, to expect John Carney to step down in two years in favor of Beau Biden, should he be appointed.  John Carney deserves better than that, and Joe and Beau know that.  If he is appointed, then it is because he will be running for reelection in two years, and Beau will be running either for reelection to the AG office, or for the House.

So the observation that Joe is somehow in conflict with RAM is false.    Indeed, if Joe leaves the decision to Jack Markell, I bet you all a hundred dollars that Jack appoints John Carney and tells Joe to screw himself.

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  1. liberalgeek says:

    I have a theory on why Joe is delaying the decision.

    He has been waiting for Obama to step down (which he just did) and once a replacement has been named and sworn in, Joe will step down. Joe had no intention of not allowing his boss to call the shots. Of the incoming freshman class, the Junior Senator from Illinois will be sworn in, followed by the new junior Senator from Delaware, followed by the rest of the field.

    I think that person will be Carney.

  2. FSP says:

    Who is this John Carney of which you speak? Clearly you mean Jack Carney.

  3. Unstable Isotope says:

    I’ve been wondering as well what the holdup is. I think Joe knows it would be desirable to appoint the new Senator earlier rather than later because it would give that Senator more seniority than the incoming freshman class. I don’t think he would want to wait until Jan. 20 because I might be wrong but I think that the new Senators are sworn in earlier than that. That would make the new DE senator the one with the least seniority.

    Personally, I think Joe may be waiting for the new Illinois Senator to be appointed, out of deference for Obama. So, the seniority of the Illinois Senator would be greater than the new Delaware Senator and would be greater than the new freshman class. That’s just my guess.

    I agree that Carney would not be a placeholder for Beau. I also think that a placeholder like Harriet Windsor Smith wouldn’t necessarily mean that Beau is the next Senator. Beau and John Carney might both vie for the seat (although that’s not quite the Delaware way…).

  4. Unstable Isotope says:

    lg,

    JINX!

  5. Unstable Isotope says:

    OT,

    but Countdown is saying that Palin has a multi-million dollar book deal. Will she dish?

  6. Joey C says:

    Been gone sooo long… I’ve been connecting through Jason on the radio. Complicating the pain is having to tune away from John Watson on WILM 1450 AM. Having our next senator being appointed by no means takes away our voice. It won’t be Beau. Most likely Carney. The issue lies in actively pressing our position. Minner is the definition of inaccessible and its our own fault. Some say Biden was aloof to Delaware’s voters but I have personal experience to the contrary. Thurman Adams baby! Get him out of Dover and know he’d bring home the bacon. But mainly get him out!