As Democrats sadly and nostalgically wave goodbye to Obama and Biden, a small upsurge of the "why didn't we elect Uncle Joe" has popped up.

Coincidentally, researching another topic, I was surprised to discover that Biden had been a Republican in 1968, making the irony complete - no "Goldwater Girl" (at 16) for Joe at 26. 

Part of the mythology around Joe is his raising 2 young kids alone - noble and remarkable for a man (even on a Senator's salary), hardly mentionable for a woman. Yes, he could have stayed at home to bake cookies, but that's not Joe.

Joe like Hillary devoted himself to defense and security on entering the Senate, but remarkably escaped the standard pejorative of "war hawk". Even though he, like Hillary and a gillion others, voted for the Iraq inspections & AUMF that despite UN success was used 5 months later to illegally invade.

Joe is considered a trustworthy honest voice for the Democrats, despite lifting lines from other politicians and exaggerating his record and family history - remembered, but not as scarring as a Sarajevo Airport comment. Presumably Melania can now respond, "Joe said it's okay".

He's seen as a unifying figure despite being the committee leader who shut down Anita Hill's testimony against Clarence Thomas, or tone-deaf nostalgia over the sexual predator Bob Packwood at a women's event in 2014.

He completely bolloxed up the debt ceiling/Social Security & Medicare negotiations in 2011, pulling an end-around on Harry Reid so bad that 2 years later Reid refused to even include him in the next talks.

Despite several more unremarkable runs for President, he entered the 2016 election season as a "waiting in the wings" dark horse. Apparently "pushed aside by Obama" (like duh, after 2 uninspiring runs and being already 73 years old?), Biden soon got his revenge - leaking his own version of how his son Beau on his deathbed had begged him to run for the good of the country and all that's glorious, to save us from the cynical, corrupt, untrustworthy Hillary.

Calculating? Cynical? Nope, Joe's the nicest guy who ever served - he "deserved" the respect to take his time and make his decision amidst his grief. The NY Times & WaPo then lobbied this for the rest of summer and far into autumn 2015 as the others waited for him to finally catch a clue, the "you're out of time" (combined presumably with "you haven't got a chance). And those another lugubrious legacy was born.

Well, don't let the door hit you on the way out, Joe - you're too nice for that, and unlike supposedly Hillary, you will be missed. Though not by me.