There was really a rather remarkable article in yesterday’s News Journal, wherein our next Senator essentially admits that he will be nothing but a puppet.
Many lawmakers have grappled with how to balance their constituents’ needs with their own principles. As Ted Kaufman sees it, he’ll have a third consideration when he becomes Delaware’s new senator next month: What would Vice President-elect Joe Biden do?
Biden’s preference may not always prevail in Kaufman’s decisions but it must be part of the equation, given that he was appointed to a seat Biden was elected to retain, Kaufman said.
“It’s clear to me that the people of Delaware are looking for someone that has his values and his views at least reflected in what they’re doing,” he said.
Now it is one thing to say that you, as Senator will value Senator Biden’s opinion and advice, and you will often seek it out. We would expect that, even if Kaufman wasn’t Biden’s longtime friend and former Chief of Staff. But that is not what Kaufman is saying.
Figuring out his own approach — he describes it as a “three-legged stool,” factoring in constituents’ needs, his own principles and Biden’s views — came easily to him. He said no one factor should be determinative.
Indeed, with Kaufman saying he expects to retain the “vast majority” of Biden’s Senate staff, in hopes hoping to avoid interruptions in constituent services, what is really being said there is that he will be getting the same advice and opinions that Biden received when he was a Senator. Again, that is not that per se bad, for I am sure Biden’s Senate is full of competent and skilled staffers. My problem is with Kaufman essentially admitting that he will not be speaking with his own voice. It is one thing for all of us to speculate that Kaufman will be doing Biden’s bidding for the next year, it is quite another for Kaufman to agree with our speculation.
Having a vice president who cares about the state is “like having another member on our congressional delegation,” he said.