Hillary Clinton is 'eyeing' Joe Biden as her top choice for Secretary of State if she wins

It may not be an accident that her interest in tapping the popular Biden has leaked now

(Reuters)

There are many reasons that Hillary Clinton might find the idea of making Joe Biden her Secretary of State appealing. Among them might be this: at the negotiating table, whether in Moscow, Beijing or Tehran, he could talk America’s antagonists into submission on any topic.

As the political chatterati absorbed the reporting by two leading news organisations that Ms Clinton’s transition team had already settled on Vice President Biden as her likely first choice for America’s next diplomat-in-chief – were she to win the White House next month – other more serious reasons will have come to mind beyond his reputation for relentless garrulousness.

He is seasoned, and not just because he will turn 74 in three weeks time. Mr Biden spent no fewer than 36 years in the US Senate representing his beloved state of Delaware before he was picked to be Barack Obama’s running mate eight years ago. Moreover, he spent some of that time as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

HIs experience in trouble spots around the world and his friendships with top players in capitals almost everywhere would mean that he and Ms Clinton together would make a formidable foreign relations team. She, of course, had a four-year stint as Secretary of State and also sat on the foreign relations committee as a senator from New York when Mr Biden was in the chair.

“He'd be great, and they are spending a lot of time figuring out the best way to try to persuade him to do it if she wins,” a source familiar with Ms Clinton's transition planning told Politico. NBC News also said it had confirmed that Mr Biden had emerged as a top choice for the job.

While his age might be a concern, Mr Biden has indicated his wish in recent interviews to remain in public service in some capacity after he and Mr Obama make way for whomever succeeds them after next month’s election.

His relationship with Ms Clinton is presumably all the more warm given his decision last year not to run against her for the Democratic presidential nomination even though many in his party had been keen that he do so. He demurred in part because of the loss of his son, Beau Biden, to cancer earlier in 2015.

Moreover, in the last few weeks, he has been campaigning vigorously on Ms Clinton’s behalf, hopscotching across the country to pep up her supporters. He has been especially outspoken in scorning Donald Trump for his record of treatment of women and his divisive rhetoric on immigration and Muslims.

Asked in one recent interview if he was wistful about his decision not to run and wished that it had been him up on the debate stage with Mr Trump and not Ms Clinton, his answer was clear, even if it borrowed from Mr Trump’s own lexicon of physical confrontation.

“No, I wish we were in high school,” he replied. “I could take him behind the gym. That's what I wish.” Mr Trump responded to the jibe during a campaign appearance in Geneva, Ohio, on Thursday night. ”You know what you do with Biden? You go like this,“ the Republican nominee said, then turned to the side to blow out a puff of air from his mouth. ”And he'd fall over.”

“I dream about Biden,” Mr Trump added. “Boy, that would be easy. That would be an easy one.”

Mr Biden remains a highly popular figure among Democratic grassroots voters with a reputation for connecting well with blue-collar supporters and a knack for populist empathy. It thus may not have been entirely accidental that news of his being potentially tapped for arguably the most important post in a putative Clinton cabinet is leaking out now.

In his State of the Union address this year, Mr Obama announced a new "moonshot" strategy to try to defeat cancer and gave the task of making it happen to Mr Biden, for whom, still grieving the loss of his son, it has been a top priority ever since.