Looking For Change, Senator Joseph Biden Isn't It

A possible picture of the future, we see Vice President Biden guiding President Obama. Anyhow, that's what Obama said he wanted when he choose Biden.


Longest Serving Senators

Since 1789 there have been 1,897 Americans who have served as United States Senators.

Listed here are the twenty individuals who have served the longest terms ever as of September 3, 2008.

Senator
Dates of Service
Length of Service


1. Robert C. Byrd (D-WV)
January 3, 1959 to present
49 years, 8 months

2. Strom Thurmond (R-SC)
December 24, 1954 to April 4, 1956

and November 7, 1956 to January 3, 2003
47 years, 5.2 months

3. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)
November 7, 1962 to present
45 years, 10 months

4. Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI)
January 3, 1963-present
45 years, 8 months

5. Carl T. Hayden (D-AZ)
March 4, 1927 to January 3, 1969
41 years, 10.1 months

6. John C. Stennis (D-MS)
November 5, 1947 to January 3, 1989
41 years, 2 months

7. Theodore F. Stevens (R-AK)
December 24, 1968 to present
39 years, 8 months

8. Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC)
November 9, 1966 to January 3, 2005
38 years, 1.8 months

9. Richard B. Russell (D-GA)
January 12, 1933 to January 21, 1971
38 years

10. Russell B. Long (D-LA)
December 31, 1948 to January 3, 1987
38 years

11. Francis E. Warren (R-WY)
November 18, 1890 to March 3, 1893

and March 4, 1895 to November 24, 1929
37 years

12. James O. Eastland (D-MS)
June 30, 1941 to September 28, 1941
and January 3, 1943 to December 27, 1978
36 years, 3 months

13. Warren Magnuson (D-WA)
December 14, 1944 to January 2, 1981
36 years

14. Claiborne Pell (D-RI)
January 3, 1961 to January 3, 1997
36 years

15. Kenneth McKellar (D-TN)
March 4, 1917 to January 2, 1953
35 years, 10 months

16. Milton Young (R-ND)
March 12, 1945 to January 2, 1981
35 years, 9 months

17. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)
January 3, 1973 to present
35 years, 8 months

17. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE)
January 3, 1973 to present
35 years, 8 months

18. Ellison D. Smith (D-SC)
March 4, 1909 to November 17, 1944
35 years, 8 months

19. Allen J. Ellender (D-LA)
January 3, 1937 to July 27, 1972
35 years, 7 months

20. William B. Allison (R-IA)
March 4, 1873 to August 4, 1908
35 years, 5 months


As Soap Box Ravings interprets this, Senator Joseph Biden is the 17th senior senator of all time. Of the 16 Senators senior to Senator Biden in the Senate, not all of which are presently serving, four are Republicans and 12 are Democrats. I'm not sure how elevating Senator Biden to the Vice Presidency of the United States is going to generate change. It just looks like a promotion of the "Old Guard" to me. No matter what the Democratic Party would like you to believe, they historically seem to last in the senate longer than Republicans. I guess when you have a good government job you just don't want to let it go.

Some comments added on Labor Day, 09/01/2008

“Joe Biden is Barack Obama’s Dick Cheney. Biden’s age and experience stand in stark contrast to Obama’s lack of both. Like Cheney, Biden is unlikely after two terms as vice president to ever seek the presidency in his own right. That will give him the freedom to be the power behind the throne. And if (God forbid) Barack Obama is elected president, he is going to need a lot of guidance. His reckless, naive foreign policy initiatives at this crucial point in history could put the entire free world at risk. Neither Barack Obama nor Joe Biden has ever run anything. Neither has served in an executive capacity, such as governor of a state or CEO of a major corporation. Both are bloviating legislators in the United States Congress, the ratings of which have hovered at or near single digits in most the recent public opinion polls. But hopefully... Biden will at least have the seasoning to keep Captain America from getting us all killed while he’s playing his big role on the world stage.” —Doug Patton

“When we hear about rent control or gun control, we may think about rent or guns but the word that really matters is ‘control.’ That is what the political left is all about, as you can see by the incessant creation of new restrictions in places where they are strongly entrenched in power, such as San Francisco or New York.” —Thomas Sowell