Beau Biden Will Not Accept Senate Appointment

[Hope And Change]

Beau Biden Will Not Accept Senate Appointment

Vice-president elect Joe Biden and his son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, embrace at the Democratic National Convention in August.


Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden will not accept an appointment to the Senate to replace his father, according to knowledgeable state sources, a decision that scrambles the race to to replace the vice president-elect in the Senate next year.

Beau Biden, the eldest son of Joe Biden, removed himself from consideration even as he prepares to deploy for a year-long tour of duty in Iraq. (Biden is a member of the Delaware National Guard and http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/13/Beau_Biden_likely_to_be_in_Iraq_soon/UPI-96221226617745/">is currently training in Texas before being deployed to the Middle East.)

What Beau Biden's decision means for the Delaware political landscape is still anyone's guess. Given his military commitment, there seemed to be no way that he could be appointed to the seat in early 2009 anyway, and his decision to pro-actively remove himself from consideration simply affirms that reality.

Biden's decision does not rule out the possibility that he would run for the remaining four years on his father's Senate term in a 2010 special election. And, the specter of Biden -- the son of the vice president returning from his military service to assume the Senate seat -- complicates the decision that will be made by either outgoing Gov. Ruth Ann Minner or incoming Gov. Jack Markell (both Democrats) about who to appoint to the two-year vacancy.

If Biden resigns before Markell is sworn-in as Delaware's next governor on Jan. 20, then Minner, who is term limited out of office on that same day, would likely make the appointment. If Biden waits to resign until Markell's official swearing-in (or if the swearing-in is moved up to accommodate Delawareans who want to attend both ceremonies) then it would be Markell who would make the appointment. (ABC News laid out all of the potential scenarios in a piece penned the day after the election.)


By Chris Cillizza | November 18, 2008; 12:40 PM ET

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/11/beau_biden_will_not_accept_app.html">Full article here

[dmallind]

1. No offense to what seems like a fine man, but nor should he be offered it

I would imagine somebody from the legislative pool would be better suited. AG's have certainly won Senate seats before, but there's a difference between winning and being given a seat. Don't know Delaware's politicos well enough to suggest anyone, but surely somebody in either their US House or state legislature contingent is worthy of a promotion?

Even in examples like this where the relative has a record of their own, it's never sat that well with me for family members to be frequent Senate replacements. I'm not paranoid about nobility or dynasty fears like some - it just seems like a mail-it-in pick that's all.

[Cha]

2. Good..then it doesn't

smack of nepotism.

[Tempest]

3. Frank Murkowski became a pariah in Alaska because of it

Murkowski lost the governor's office in Alaska to Palin in large part due to picking his daughter to replace him in Congress.

And the Alaska legislature change the law so that governors couldn't pick replacements to Congress anymore because of him. Special elections now have to be held.

[Cha]

4. I thought of that when I

posted. When you reflect ..this had to turn out this way because of who the Bidens are.

[Tempest]

5. Democrats generally have higher ethical standards

Repugs don't know what ethical standards are.

[Cha]

6. Yeah, it's definetly

clear cut.