Joe Biden must worry about Hillary and Barack love fest on '60 Minutes' -- Loyalty not a dominant theme for President Obama it seems

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on "60 Minutes"

Just days after rescuing Obama on issues such as the fiscal cliff and gun control, Joe Biden must be worrying what it takes to get some loyalty around the White House.

There was Barack on Sunday night on ‘60 minutes’ schmoozing with Hillary Clinton like two best friends forever and not a mention of Joe, good, bad or indifferent.

Barack does not do loyalty as one leading journalist recently remarked to this column. He must know that Irish Joe is gearing up for a run in 2016 and that Hillary is likely his biggest rival.

So there he was on the nation’s most popular news program offering a hosannah of praises to his former bitter rival.

Barack may have knocked back the idea in the ‘60 Minutes’ interview that such political considerations were important, but do you believe him or his lying eyes?

Everything is about the future election in Washington and Biden might have expected a little more loyalty after his herculean efforts to salvage the fiscal cliff talks and take the heat on gun control -- a joint appearance on ‘60 Minutes perhaps?

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No doubt Joe’s hair plugs were on fire as Hill and Barack cozied up instead like an old married couple who had lots of tiffs and made it through despite that.

Despite all the good cheer there is no love lost now or ever between the Clintons and the Obamas. The scars of the bitter 2008 primary campaign will never heal.

Their political marriage worked out very well for both. Obama got a magnificent and workaholic Secretary of State and Clinton got the high profile and relevance that would have been denied her after her stunning primary defeat.

Obama’s tacit endorsement in 2016 will be critical to who wins the Democratic nomination and he seems comfortable for now embracing both his Vice President and his soon-to-be former Secretary of State.

But there will come a day either publicly or privately where the Obama endorsement will make a major difference in the 2016 battle.

It may not go to Biden or Hillary, it could go to Andrew Cuomo or Martin O’Malley, but I’m sure Biden felt he is entitled to it as the ultimate loyal foot soldier for a president who desperately needs his genuine warmth and political gifts such as working with the opposition.

But the Hillary joint interview showed if you need friends in D.C., get a dog, especially when it comes to Barack Obama.

Read more: Denis McDonough new Obama Chief of Staff deeply proud of his Irish heritage

VP Joe Biden suddenly looks like the smartest politician in America -- Irish American VP goes where no other politicians dare in Washington D.C.

Vice President Joe Biden arrives to a House 

Democratic caucus meeting at the Capitol on Jan. 1, 2013.

(Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

Joe Biden is suddenly the most popular politician in Washington and a real contender for 2016. The latest opinion poll by Public Policy shows him running a strong second to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination.

The Irish American Vice President, widely dismissed by the haughty press corps looking for the new and the beautiful, is at the very heart of the dramatic new initiatives by the Obama administration.

In a time of electoral gridlock, Biden appears to be the one figure who can reach out to the other side and force a civil discourse.

On the fiscal cliff he galloped to the rescue and cut the deal with Senator Mitch McConnell before riding off like the Lone Ranger. Opinion polls showed the public believed by a 57 per cent to 20 per cent margin that Biden’s deal was better for Democrats than Republicans.

Read more: The NRA will not allow Joe Biden to blame law-abiding gun owners for actions of madmen

Now on gun control he is defying the conventional wisdom again and getting real traction behind his recommendations which he will deliver to the president next week.

He has met with the NRA, Walmart, and every major gun constituency, forcing a dialogue where none existed before and making clear that action will be taken to prevent another Sandy Hook.

Don’t rule out the possibility of a deal that Biden can craft that the NRA can get along with, strange as that may seem.

Biden notes there appears to be a near universal belief that more background checks are needed for all gun sales.

He is determined that action will occur.

"There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet, but we're compiling it all with the help the attorney general and all the rest of the cabinet members, as well as legislative action, we believe, is required," he said.

Sure the NRA said it was “disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment.’’

But everything is different after Sandy Hook and Biden knows it even if the NRA does not.

He is suddenly being noticed. “These weeks can continue to set him up as one of the few who can deliver in an era when no one thinks accomplishments can happen and everyone believes Washington is broken — an appealing position to be in as he considers his future,” a Biden loyalist told the Washington Post.

Maureen Dowd in The New York Times stated, “Mr. Biden can spread everything out on the table and negotiate his way through all of his former colleagues' shortcomings, weaknesses, fears and frailties.”
In  a time when American politics is so polarized Biden has managed the extraordinary trick of being able to appear reasonable to both sides.”

Chris Cilliza, who writes the influential The Fix column for the Washington Post, wrote, “What’s apparent and indisputable over these past few weeks is that Biden has put himself at the center of the national political conversation in ways that have helped his boss but also himself.”

In this new political arena maybe a pol with old fashioned skills is what’s really needed. Joe Biden is certainly starting off 2013 on fire.

Next up, immigration reform for the miracle worker?

Read more: Gun nuts lose argument over assault weapons ban, threaten civil war - VIDEO

Joe Biden wins debate by not losing and ‘malarkey’ accusations fly -- Biden, Ryan donnybrook was a debate to really remember - VIDEO

Joe Biden & Paul Ryan in last nights debate
(Credit: AP/Charlie Neibergall)

A CBS poll of undecided voters gave last night’s debate 50 to 31 percent to Joe Biden while a CNN poll of all voters gave it to Ryan by 48 percent to 44 percent.

I think Joe Biden shaded the debate last night by just being himself and clearly not losing. That’s not a load of "malarkey", ie hot air. The Irish expression somehow made it into the middle of the presidential debate, though some spell it "mullarkey".

Biden is one of the most liked men in politics, and that is what came across in the debate.

I have met Biden many times, interviewed him once when he was a senator, and always came away impressed with his easy manner and basic decency.

He has an easy Irish charm, hail-fellow well met and the Vice Presidency suits him well.

That was what came across with the Ryan stand-off. He was keeping Paul Ryan under pressure but managed it in an amiable way and he “righted the ship” as political editor Gloria Borger on CNN noted.

Biden accused his fellow Irish American of "malarkey" at every opportunity and kept Ryan off balance enough so that he never got to do a Romney and slam home unchallenged  assertions.

Biden accomplished what Obama never did, aggressively challenging fundamental Republican policies.

The fear of Democrats on the way in was that Biden would collapse like a burst balloon as Obama did in the first debate.

Near panic had spread through Democratic ranks after Obama’s faux pas. The slippage in the polls was a nightmare scenario come true.

There has been a tendency on the right to paint Biden as a buffoon liable to go rogue at any moment but he proved far from that.

Read all the Election 2012 news here.

Biden proved a hardy road warrior, well versed in the key debate issues.

Ryan is an extremely smart politician who comes across as robotic at times, but is very much in command of his facts.

It was a fascinating debate, full of substance, superbly moderated. It was everything the first debate was not.

The key moment for me in the Vice Presidential debate was when they both dealt with their religion and the issue of abortion.

It was an intensely personal moment, devoid of the accusations and reams of figures that each can spout.

Ryan made clear that he was personally opposed based on his experience of listening to his first child’s heartbeat at seven weeks.

Biden referred to Catholic social teaching but also stated that he was personally opposed to abortion but would not impose his views.

It was hard not to accept both men at face value and understand they were sincere in their sentiments.

Biden has bought Obama time, a precious commodity, but Tuesday night’s debate in Long Island now takes on even more importance.

Bring it on!

Complete Vice Presidential Debate 2012: Joe Biden vs. Paul Ryan - Oct:

Irish donnybrook as Joe Biden versus Paul Ryan key for presidential debate -- Gift of the gab Biden versus ‘just the facts’ new politician Ryan

Irish American politicians Paul Ryan and Joe Biden gear up for their first major battle

Incredible, but the presidential race could come down to the debating skills of two Irish American politicians who were viewed as bit players just a few weeks ago.

Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan were supposed to be the afters, while the main course was Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

However, after Romney’s sensational knockout of Obama in the first presidential debate the Ryan/Biden stand-off in Kentucky suddenly looms large.

The polls are essentially tied which means that any major mistake or a similar poor showing by Biden could doom the Obama campaign suddenly on the back foot.

For Paul Ryan, a complete unknown to most Americans, it will be the first and only chance to introduce himself. Is he the cost cutter and right-wing ideologue that the Democrats paint him as or a visionary young politician who will loom as a giant some day as Republicans believe?

Biden, whose secret service code name is “Celtic” will be trying to stop the rot that suddenly pervades the Obama campaign after the president’s faux pas in the first debate.

Paul Ryan, descendant of Tipperary Famine era immigrants, will seek to continue the upward momentum and the suddenly kinder, gentler image of the Romney/Ryan campaign.

The two men could not be more different. Biden is the Irish politician of legend; warm, gregarious, and downright sentimental at times. Ryan is a more withdrawn number cruncher, bright as all hell, and someone who sees politics as a battle about ideas not sentiment.

But those stereotypes will only carry both men so far. This presidential election is a battle about core ideas and both men personify the difference even more than the presidential candidates.

It is the small government, cut and slash spending view as against the traditional model that we can solve issues through government and private partnership.

This is what will make this debate so fascinating. The American people are finally engaged after the first debate and it is game on with polls showing the race the closest since Kennedy/Nixon and Bush/Gore.

Ryan has the tougher task, introducing himself to the American people under the harsh spotlight of a desperately close presidential campaign.

He is not in Wisconsin anymore and there has to be a sense of nervousness and anxiety heading into his big night.

Biden on the other hand has been known for his verbal gaffes and has to watch that Irish gift of the gab which isn’t such a gift on occasions.

Biden was chosen in 2008 by Obama to reach that Catholic working class voter who is so crucial in swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Ryan was also picked in part because of that profile and both men will be aiming directly at the undecided vote, which contains so many Catholic working class voters.

They say Vice Presidential debates do not decide elections, but in one as close as this it could have a massive impact.

After Obama’s poor performance the pressure on Joe Biden is greater than he has ever experienced in a long political career.

But I have a funny feeling it will be the old dog for the hard road when the smoke clears.

Read more: New information on Vice President Joe Biden’s Irish roots uncovered

Read more: The Paul Ryan American dream -- fleeing famine in Ireland to Vice Presidential ticket

Catholics are now the new Protestants in American presidential politics -- Paul Ryan and Joe Biden symbolize a new era for Catholic politicians

Paul Ryan & Joe Biden (Credit: Policymic)

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan represent the first time ever an American presidential ticket that does not feature a Protestant of some denomination.

Get used to it.

There are instead, two Catholics on the tickets, Joe Biden and Paul Ryan -- get used to that too.

Despite the fact that Biden is only the second Catholic to be part of an elected presidential team -- John F Kennedy was the other -- the future looks bright for Catholic presidents.

Consider in 2016 if Romney fails but Ryan acquits himself well, he will be the obvious frontrunner.

On the other side there will be several Catholics vying, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland are among the frontrunners, perhaps even Biden himself.

It looks like Catholic is the new Protestant.

Look at the US Supreme Court for a clear indication of how Catholics are replacing the once ever-present Protestants in the top echelons.

Once a Catholic on the Supreme Court was an anomaly, now there are six. Count’em -   Kennedy, Scalia, Roberts, Thomas, Sotomayor, Alito.

Certainly the era of anti-Catholicism seems truly dead and buried but it was very real.

In 1960 Dr Norman Vincent Peale, the Billy Graham of his day, when explained the consequences for America if John F.Kennedy was elected, stated:

"Our American culture is at stake," said Peale.

"I don't say it won't survive, but it won't be what it was."

Political strategy is at the heart of the resurgence too. Most presidential elections are settled in the swing states, with Ohio and Pennsylvania chief among them.

Working class Catholics provide the margin of victory in those states and they have gone back and forth between the two parties since Ronald Reagan claimed them as his Reagan Democrats.

Obama handily wins the Catholic vote when it includes Hispanics, but without Hispanics they are the great swing vote.

Protestants on the other hand are all over the shop from Tea Party born-agains to liberal North Easterners.

If you want to win a focused, vital slice of the American electorate, then a Catholic on your ticket is good news as Biden proved in 2008.

Romney is hoping to repeat that magic this time around. It will be interesting to see if he succeeds.