Joe Biden, in dog house, to get puppy

Joe Biden may have lost out to Hillary Clinton in foreign affairs, but he has beaten the Obama daughters to getting a new puppy, the one his wife, Jill, promised she'd get him, if the Obama-Biden ticket won on November 4th:

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Biden revealed his wife’s pledge on Election Day, telling reporters flying with him to Chicago that she had first promised him a dog if he was elected president, and when his primary bid failed, if he was elected vice president. Mrs. Biden even taped pictures of dogs on the seat back in front of Biden on the plane, according to the report.

“I’ve always had a big dog my whole life, even the time I was a kid. I’ve had German Shepherds and Great Danes and Labs and Golden Retrievers,” Biden said on November 4. “So with Barack inquiring about would I be willing to get vetted, Jill said, ‘I’ll make you a deal: if you get the vice presidency and get elected, you can get a dog.’"

Joe will have a lot of time to spend with the three-month old male German Shepherd, since is supposedly taking it upon himself "to significantly shrink the role of the vice presidency in Barack Obama’s White House," according to this Politico.com report.

We are asked to believe that it's Joe who wants to make sure he doesn't get his own morning intelligence briefing. He won't "always be the last person Obama speaks to before making a decision" because he prefers it that way. He doesn't want to hold "broad sway – with a particular emphasis on foreign policy" as Cheney did.

What's more -- and this part is really rich:

In fact, Biden’s goal of restoring the office to its “traditional role” is something he and Obama agreed on before the Delaware senator was named to the Democratic ticket, the transition official said. As part of that understanding, Biden is unlikely to have a specific docket of issues.

“He’s been very clear about that from the start that he was not going to take a portfolio in particular areas,” the transition official familiar with Biden’s role said.

That's right, before he took the veep spot on the ticket, Joe made sure, as part of his "understanding" with Obama, that he wouldn't have any nasty "portfolio" of actual responsibilities. Of course, he will "be available widely and broadly to offer his advice on whatever hard questions the president was trying to decide." Just as long as it's not a hard question that required a morning intel briefing, and provided Biden is not the last person Obama speaks to before making a decision.

There still may be plenty of stuff to do:

Those close to Biden say he will be a more town hall-style vice president than Cheney. He will do more television shows and press availabilities. He and his wife, Jill, will likely be out promoting their favorite causes, although they will likely still not be part of the Washington social scene.

And in a small shift, Biden has expressed interest in bringing back the Al Gore tradition of hosting an annual Halloween party for the press corps at the vice presidential residence.

We suspected that Joe was in the dog house with Obama for handing the GOP a terrific issues ("mark my words...they will test him"), but this is ridiculous. Maybe Obama will give Joe the job of picking a puppy for the girls!