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The office of the vice president largely has been a ceremonial role. The VP is typically chosen for the pull he or she would bring based on some feature completely irrelevant to his or her ability to govern. With the notable exception of Dick Cheney, the VP’s value as an attack dog or poster child during the campaign is far more significant than his or her contributions once the election is over.

Enter Joe Biden. Chosen for the credibility his years of experience added to the rock star Obama campaign, he nonetheless managed to spout out more verbal gaffes in six months of campaigning than the much maligned Dan Quayle did in four years. Whether he was urging a paralyzed veteran to stand up and acknowledge the crowd or butchering basic history, he brought more negatives than positives to the ticket. Fortunately for then-candidate Obama, he didn’t need any help in winning the election with a handy majority of electoral votes.

The question facing our president is this: What to do with Joe now? Already in his fledgling vice presidency, he has disagreed publicly with the president and offered the press logic so convoluted that the president has been forced into a position of defending Biden’s statements instead of focusing on his own agenda. Having seen President Obama’s angry reaction to being taken off his talking points by a wayward member of the press, I can’t imagine that he will take kindly to future repeats of Biden-spawned digressions.

It seems that every time a president is up for reelection, there is some unfulfilled talk of dumping his current VP for a new running mate. It never happens, but it is always talked about. However, never before in this county have we had such a flashy, image conscious president. If the polls are not tilting his way heading into 2012, we may well see President Obama make a change in VP by bringing in a popular (probably female) vice president. Then again, if he’s got a comfortable lead, we’re sure to be treated to another four years of Joe Biden in the news.