Self-proclaimed surrogate says he is not auditioning

Maybe this is just a coincidence: Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) devoting a lot of his time to attacking Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the GOP presidential candidate, on foreign policy and national security.

Biden has been out of the presidential campaign for months. Yet his role as a self-proclaimed surrogate for Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) — the Democratic standard-bearer who is weak where Biden is strong — has some wondering if he’s looking for a spot on the ticket.

{mosads}Even Biden is aware that such speculation is out there. He dismisses such talk while also playfully boasting his credentials.

“I’d make a great president. I’d make a great secretary of state. I’d make a great vice president,” Biden joked this week.

Yet Biden has had few laughs when attacking McCain, calling him “out of touch” with the needs of the troops and accusing the GOP candidate of considering himself “above the law” on national security.

Biden’s ability to throw sharp elbows could be what Obama needs in a running mate: a tough and experienced veteran to neutralize McCain’s military and national-security credentials, the centerpiece of the Republican candidate’s campaign.

If asked, Biden says he would not turn the job down. But he says he’s not auditioning, as some speculate.

“They don’t know me, and I don’t give a damn,” Biden said.

“My role is self-appointed” in the Obama campaign, Biden said. “As a Democrat, I am not sitting still for any Republican suggestion that the Democratic position on national security is weak. The Republicans have been an absolute total disaster, by their own measure.”

Biden said he is modeling his new efforts on an approach he employed in the 1980s and 1990s, when Democrats effectively rebutted Republican criticism that they were soft on crime after they pushed through major anti-crime legislation.

Elected to the Senate at the age of 30, the 65-year-old Biden has a laundry list of foreign and domestic policy achievements and harbors deep ambition to occupy the Oval Office. A Catholic born in the swing state of Pennsylvania, Biden could also appeal to working-class whites, a constituency Obama had a hard time courting in the primaries.

The senator, who dropped his own bid for the presidency after a poor showing in January’s Iowa caucuses, was praised for his solid performances and wit at Democratic presidential debates last year.

“Joe brings an extraordinary knowledge of the world and of the world’s leaders that few Democrats or Republicans in the Senate or outside the Senate possess,” said Democrat Tom Carper, the junior senator from Delaware. “Sen. Obama … does not have the depth of experience in foreign policy that Joe Biden’s 30-plus years has.”

{mospagebreak}But his loquacious nature has also led to a few embarrassing gaffes, something a vice presidential candidate cannot afford to make.

The day Biden launched his presidential bid in February 2007, he instead had to explain his comments published in the New York Observer calling Obama “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”

Biden later apologized and said his remarks were misconstrued.

{mosads}Touting his relationship with Indian-Americans in July 2006, Biden said, “You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking.”

Biden later said he intended to praise the achievements of the Indian community.

His effusiveness also can produce embarrassing news stories. During a confirmation hearing of Samuel Alito for a seat on the Supreme Court, Biden nearly used up his 30 minutes before asking a single question.

Hailing from a liberal Northeastern state with just three electoral votes, Biden’s regional appeal may be minimal. Plus he lacks the chief-executive experience that a governor would bring and has spent half his life in Washington — a contrast with Obama’s change message.

He has other baggage, including an accusation in the 1988 Democratic presidential campaign that he plagiarized a speech made by a British politician, damaging his bid for the nomination that year.

But in an election that could turn on national security, and as Republicans pound the first-term Sen. Obama for his lack of foreign-policy experience, Biden’s strengths could get him on the ticket.

Biden could help Obama avoid the 2004 fate of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who was beaten up on national-security issues.

His possible role was apparent on Wednesday. After former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani lampooned Obama’s “fundamental lack of judgment regarding our national security,” Biden shot back forcefully.

“It’s no surprise that it takes a man with zero national security and foreign experience to defend the policies of John McCain and President Bush,” Biden said in a scathing response.

Biden called McCain “out of touch with the needs of our troops” after the Republican suggested this month that it was “not too important” when the U.S. military leaves Iraq.

After news reports surfaced this month on McCain’s support for the president’s warrantless surveillance program, Biden said that the GOP candidate has joined Bush and Richard Nixon in “taking the position that as president, he would consider himself above the law.”

Yet his most notable skill can be summing up his opposition with one word that attracts attention. He did that in May, commenting on Bush’s likening of politicians who seek talks with Iran and hostile Islamic leaders to those who appeased the Nazis. Biden told reporters that the president’s remarks were “bulls—t.”

He later said he shouldn’t have used a curse word to vent his frustration.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) says staying on offense will be critical this year.

“Go for the strength, kill them on their strength, and if they can’t react to their attacks on their strengths, you may have them in a stranglehold,” he said.

Biden says he will stick to that plan — no matter where he ends up.

“If the presidential candidate told me to stop talking, I wouldn’t,” Biden said. “I refuse ever again to let a Republican conclude that we are weak on national security.”