As speculation mounted last week that Biden was going to be Obama’s choice, the tagline “Irish Catholic” popped up all over the place in media reports. Interestingly enough, it didn’t attach itself to Virginia governor Tim Kaine or Kathleen Gilligan Sebelius of Kansas.
But there has always been a geographic aspect to being “Irish Catholic” in a political sense.
Virginia and Kansas don’t quite lend themselves to it. But Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden’s birthplace, most certainly does and the family’s later move to Delaware was not a seismic shift in terms of classic Irish American geography.
Joe Biden’s life story thus far has been a glaring mix of tragedy, near tragedy, renewed hope and clear success.
In terms of his standing with Irish Americans of issues of concern to them, Biden has been consistent if not as prominent as some of his Senate colleagues down the years such as Ted Kennedy, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan or indeed Chris Dodd, who was also viewed up until the last minute as a possible Obama vice presidential pick.
Biden, who claims family roots in County Derry, has made two bids of his own for the White House, the first being in 1988. He subsequently withdrew after it was found that he had used lines in a speech that were those of British Labor Party leader, Neil Kinnock.
Biden launched an early bid for this year’s presidential election in no uncertain terms.
“Everybody else calls it exploratory. I’m not exploring. I’m in. And this is the beginning of a marathon,” Biden said when he announced, this being way back in 2005.
Over the course of his lengthy Senate career, Biden has more often that not signed on to statements and resolutions regarding Northern Ireland, frequently in conjunction with Kennedy and Dodd.
Back in 2001, the three mounted a coordinated probe into the credentials of wealthy Boston businessman Richard Egan when the Bush administration put Egan forward as its choice for U.S. ambassador to Ireland.
Egan’s passage to Dublin was anything but smooth to begin with. He faced a Senate confirmation grilling largely instigated by Sen. Kennedy.
“Questions as to his suitability for the post, and particularly in the context of the North peace process, were also raised during the summer of 2001 by Senator Chris Dodd and Joe Biden,” the Echo wrote in a subsequent report.
Biden has also teamed up with Dodd in opposition to sentiment express by Irish American activists and organizations, most especially in their voting for the controversial revised U.S./UK Extradition Treaty in 2006.
Biden, meanwhile, has also had some solo Irish moments.
Some years ago, when Admiral William Crowe was being questioned by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before his appointment as U.S. ambassador to Britain, Biden suggested to Crowe that he spend time in Northern Ireland and
become familiar with its politics.
The outgoing U.S. ambassador at the time, Raymond Seitz, had made one trip to the North but had confined himself to an over-flight in a British Army helicopter.
“And by visiting Ireland I don’t mean a quick helicopter ride,” Biden told Crowe.
Biden, perhaps given the fact that he lives in an Atlantic state and not too many miles from Annapolis, penned his own letter back in 2001 pledging support for a stamp commemorating Commodore John Barry
“I greatly value the contributions Commodore Barry has made to our national history and you will, therefore, be pleased to learn that I have written a letter to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee asking them to issue a stamp honoring him,” Biden wrote Dennis McMahon the man who was spearheading the Barry stamp campaign.