How this got to be a "Biden moment"

He may not be the most popular politician in America. Mr. Biden’s approval rating stands at 49 percent in the latest New York Times/CBS poll; not bad, but still a shade lower than his boss’s (51 percent). Mrs. Clinton trounces him in early surveys of Democrats eyeing the prospective field for 2016. Yet Mr. Biden wins in a landslide in an unscientific snapshot of comic appreciation, cult appeal and of-the-moment awesomeness. The White House recently received a petition from citizens insisting that a new reality show be created featuring the vice president (2,482 signatures at this writing).

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Here is one theory on why. In 1968, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey spoke of something he called “The Politics of Joy,” a slogan he adopted to accentuate his trademark zest and enthusiasm as he ran for president. In fact, the notion was dreadfully off-pitch given the war, assassinations and upheaval of the day, and Mr. Humphrey took some ridicule for it.

Mr. Biden, however, represents an updated standard-bearer for the politics of joy, said Joel K. Goldstein, a law professor at Saint Louis University and an expert on the United States vice presidency. (Disclosure: I quote Mr. Goldstein whenever possible, just so I can type the words “expert on the United States vice presidency,” which never fails to amuse me.) While these are not exactly joyous times either — politicians are often reviled and voters are no picnic — Mr. Biden is the one major Washington figure who consistently evokes a sense of thrill in what he is doing.

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