US:DEMOCRATIC vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden will be the headline speaker tonight when his party's convention focuses on foreign policy and national security, writes Denis Staunton
As chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, Mr Biden is one of his party's leading foreign policy experts and his selection as Barack Obama's running mate has been seen as an attempt to compensate for the presidential candidate's lack of foreign policy expertise.
Greg Craig, a former special counsel to Bill Clinton who is now a senior foreign policy adviser to Mr Obama, said it was too early to predict how Mr Biden's selection would influence foreign policy in an Obama White House. "[Mr Biden] brings a depth of experience and he brings a depth of familiarity with the US and international foreign policy bureaucracy. He knows where to go to get things done," he said.
Mr Obama's speech before 200,000 people in Berlin highlighted his appeal to Europeans who are eager for a more co-operative US foreign policy. Mr Craig acknowledged, however, that Mr Obama's fans overseas could soon be disappointed once he becomes president. "I think one of the concerns that Barack Obama will have if he's elected president is the inflated expectations, the unrealistic expectations that people who have viewed him so hopefully might have," he said.
"So there will be an effort to deal with that in the early weeks and months of the administration. It is true that he will, as president of the United States, call upon the American people to do more and on our friends and allies to do more. It's not going to be a surprise because he said that in his Berlin speech. He is challenging the Germans and the Europeans to participate and to work together on a variety of issues, including Afghanistan, which is not as popular as it once was."
Mr Craig believes that Mr Obama's commitment to strengthening international institutions and his willingness to listen to allies and to talk to adversaries will endear him to an international audience. He also predicts that Europeans will cheer Mr Obama's determination to tackle climate change and to play a more active role in promoting nuclear non-proliferation.
"Where it's rough is in . . . specific challenges having to do with terrorism, having to do with Afghanistan, having to do with non-state actors who take advantage of porous borders and kill innocents," he said.
"That's very difficult to work on because it requires sacrifice. It requires people going into Afghanistan willing to fight to prevent the Taliban and al-Qaeda from re-establishing themselves."
Apart from Mr Biden's appearance, tonight's line-up at the Democratic convention includes former US president Bill Clinton, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and senators Evan Bayh, John Kerry and Jay Rockefeller.
Pennsylvania congressman Patrick Murphy, an Iraq war veteran, will lead a tribute to military veterans, active duty military and their families.
MAYO CONNECTION
MAYO COULD be represented in the White House if Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is successful in his election campaign. After announcing his running-mate as Senator Joseph Biden jnr last Saturday, celebrations commenced in north Mayo where Obama's right-hand man has strong family ties.
The Mayo townlands of Rappa and Cooneal, outside Ballina, were home to the senator's ancestors. Third-cousin of Senator Biden, Brendan Blewitt, from Runagry in Knockmore, explained the family connection.
"Patrick Blewitt emigrated from Mayo in 1835. He had a son called Edward who in turn had a daughter, called Geraldine Blewitt. Geraldine would have been Joseph Biden's grandmother. Geraldine settled in Pennsylvania. Looking into the family ties, that would make myself and Joe Biden third cousins," said Mr Blewitt.
The 65-year-old senator was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania to a Catholic Irish-American family and also has family ties in Derry, from where his grandfather came.
Scranton has strong associations with Mayo, as huge numbers of Mayo emigrants settled there during the Famine. Marking the connections, Ballina and Scranton are twinned in a "sister city" programme.
Anna-Marie Flynn