There’s normally a considerable amount of tension between the staffs of the president and the vice president. And that’s in an administration where the assumption of everyone is the president will be serving for his full term.
In the touch-and-go-with-actuity-of-mind atmosphere surrounding the Biden administration, it’s remarkable open warfare hasn’t broken out.
Vice presidential staff members, who see themselves in the driver’s seat sooner rather than later, may find the temptation to expand the scope of their power irresistible.
Meanwhile, the Biden staff is probably hypersensitive to any encroachment on their collective prerogatives.
Biden’s staff knows that if he’s packed off to presidential assisted-living, their time in the sun comes to an abrupt end.
It’s in their best interests to string together as many good days for Biden as possible and keep the bad days firmly under wraps.
We also get the feeling the Biden staff has an added ally in the president’s wife. Judging by the number of times Jill Biden takes a prominent role in interviews, events and ceremonies, one gets the unmistakable impression she relishes the presidential spotlight.
Dr. Jill won’t make the transition from First Lady to First Nurse willingly.
She’ll be fighting very hard to make sure her husband’s cognitive challenges are minimized and his time in office maximized.
The tug of war over the 25th Amendment is going to be a subtext for the next four years.
That’s why we were surprised to learn from Fox News that leftist-in-waiting Kamala Harris has been making a series of solo phone calls to foreign leaders.
And we’re not talking about a chat with the president of Togo or the governor of American Samoa.
Harris is talking to first-teamers like "French President Emanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."
Fox speculates thusly, "Less than two months into the new administration, Harris’ frequent solo calls with world leaders signal that she’ll engage deeply even in foreign policy, though her experience has been almost entirely in the domestic realm. Leaders around the world could view the vice president as Biden’s heir–apparent and be eager to build a relationship."
A European ambassador told Politico, "She will be seen by everyone as a potential president–in–waiting, much more than in previous presidencies."
There they go again.
"Heir-apparent" and "president- in- waiting" are two labels the president’s staff would normally be doing everything in its power to sidetrack.
It could be that controlling the dogs, preventing Biden from wandering off and squelching the vice president was too much for Jill and the rest of the staff to manage.
When Biden was vice president he wasn’t even allowed to participate in the first bilateral meeting with foreign leaders.
We are assured Kamala's solo phone calls to world leaders aren’t designed to line up support in the event of a coup. Instead the calls, "signal that she’ll engage deeply even in foreign policy."
The still-new vice president can’t go far wrong if she’ll just ask herself "What would Joe Biden do in this situation?" and then do the opposite.
Meanwhile, we’ll be keeping an eye on future staff infighting.
That could be even more "peaceful" than last summer’s riots.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker’s bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with addedhumor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.