Michael Hirsh: The Anti-Cheney? How Biden would compare to Bush's No. 2.

[DogPoundPup]

To what degree will the combative and assertive Biden be a behind-the-curtain influence on Obama's foreign policy as much as an attack dog on the campaign trail? In some respects, Biden is the anti-Cheney. He's a garrulous glad-hander while Cheney is reticent and secretive; he's a sunny champion of diplomatic engagement while the vice president is known for his dark, Hobbesian view of the world. Though he is not averse to the use of force—Biden was one of the first Dems to urge Bill Clinton to intervene in the Balkans in the early '90s—he could not be more different from Cheney in personality or global outlook. But in one respect the Delaware Democrat and the Wyoming Republican resemble each other: like Cheney, Biden is confident to the point of cockiness in pushing his foreign-policy views, and like the current veep he knows how the levers of power work in Washington.

Make no mistake: Obama has always been his own man on foreign policy. During his very first appearance on the Foreign Relations Committee, at Condi Rice's confirmation hearings in January 2005, he made the steely secretary of state-to-be squirm by asking sharp questions about the readiness of Iraqi troops, impressing Biden and other Senate veterans. A little over a year ago, in a defining speech on counterterrorism at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington August 2007, Obama became one of the first senators to call for additional brigades to be sent to Afghanistan—the "real war"—and to substantially increase non-military aid. Biden has echoed him. Obama also anticipated what later became U.S. policy by calling for unilateral strikes inside Pakistan.

But Biden's long record of counseling deep engagement in trouble spots and pushing nuanced, intensive diplomacy—especially talking to enemies—conform in many ways to Obama's world view. In an interview with me in late 2004, Biden sketched out what later became Obama's own position on Iran, saying that Bush should open up direct diplomacy with Tehran "because he has no alternative. The terms should be wide open. This administration spends too much time arguing over the shape of the table. They don't get anything done." He also insisted that Bush open up bilateral talks with North Korea—which the administration later reluctantly did. If Obama and Biden win, it is easy to imagine that they could enjoy something like the one-on-one rapport that George W. Bush is said to have with Cheney.

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