Meet the new Democratic senator from the great state of Delaware:
Edward E. “Ted” Kaufman is a member of the advisory board of the Obama-Biden Transition project and Co-Chair of Vice-President Biden’s transition team.
He was Senior Adviser to Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr (D-DE) on the Obama Biden Presidential campaign. He has held a senior position in all of Biden’s federal campaigns.
He was on Biden’s Senate staff from 1973 through 1994, nineteen years as Chief of Staff.
Since 1991, he has been a Senior Lecturing Fellow at the Duke University of Law, also teaching in the Fuqua School of Business, and the Sanford Institute of Public Policy.
In 1995, he was appointed by the President and confirmed by the U S Senate to be a charter member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. This federal agency is the independent, autonomous, entity responsible for all US government and government sponsored non-military international broadcasting – including Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Marti, and The Middle East Broadcasting Network. He is serving his fourth term.
He is President of Public Strategies, a political and management consulting firm based in Wilmington, Delaware.
He previously worked for the Dupont Company in a variety of finance, technical, and marketing positions.
He has a BSME from Duke University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
I have no idea where he stands on the issues. Let’s see what we can find.
Considering he’s been part of Joe Biden’s Senate and Presidential campaign staffs for 35 years, his views can’t be too different from Biden’s, I’m thinking.
Ah, so he’s a caretaker for Beau. Nice.
I would assume that Kaufman was told that he wasn’t running in 2010.
yep. It sounds that way because that is what he said.
America is not a patrician empire where wealthy families pass the crown from father to son.
Yet.
What is so praiseworthy about inheriting a name that it also entitles you to a job???
Governing is a job. We all know about the boss’s son trying to take over and how often it fails. Just like a cloned dog isn’t the same as the donor, a scion isn’t the same person with the same wisdom and experience and ability. The pup might look the same, but does it know when to hunt or when to go lie down?
Legislating is a serious job, not a beauty contest or popular social club.
Why perpetuate a government that is incestuous and inbred, when it is clear that change can only come from outside?
Has Beau ever run for office? Ever led a city council meeting or managed the budget for a large company or other valid experience?
He might be perfectly likeable, dutiful, intelligent… but would he get a guaranteed seat if his name was Smedley Smith?
Let him get tested at the state level first. Let him hire staffers and aides and manage an office, producing papers, leading hearings, writing and vetting laws. If he is competent, then promote him.
Or is Delaware so totally lacking in political talent that it has to hire an inexperienced youth?
That’s why they have elections – if the people choose the heir to the previous office-holder then that’s on them, but the people can certainly say “No.” Freedom of choice cuts both ways, sometimes the familiar outweighs the more qualified, and sometimes the familiar actually is the most qualified. Either way, the people get to vote and then own the results.
Beau Biden is the elected Attorney General of the state of Delaware. He has also said that he would not have accepted an appointment to take over his dad’s seat.
Thank god the age of cronyism is over…
g.
Biden has said he isn’t resigning from the Senate until he’s sworn in as VP, at which time Minner will no longer be governor. So unless Biden has changed his mind, who Minner says she’s appointing doesn’t matter.