Biden: 'In my heart, I’m confident that I could make a good president'
Vice President Joe Biden made the rounds on the morning talk show circuit Wednesday, defending the promise made by President Barack Obama during Tuesday's State of the Union address to use executive orders to get things done, while dropping a hint about his own political future.
"We are just not going to sit around and wait for the Congress if they choose not to act," Biden said on "CBS This Morning."
Biden also backed up his boss on putting an end to the war in Afghanistan.
"We went there for a specific purpose," Biden said. "To defeat and dismantle al-Qaida, and to prevent them from returning. We did not go there to nation build. We did not go there to occupy."
On ABC's "Good Morning America," Biden responded to House Speaker John Boehner's post-State of the Union question to the administration: "Where are the jobs?"
"There are plenty of jobs out there," Biden said. "There's a mismatch between the skills and jobs available."
The "good jobs, the middle class jobs, are in matching skills to the high-tech manufacturing we have in this country," he said. "Matching educational skills to the needs of the new economy."
As for his own job future, Biden said that he's undecided about running for president.
"I haven't made a decision to run, and I haven't made a decision not to run," Biden said on NBC's "Today" show.
But, Biden said, "In my heart, I’m confident that I could make a good president."
Biden also dismissed the claim made by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his new book that he has been wrong on "nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades."
"The fundamental problem here is that Bob Gates and I have disagreed on almost every major foreign policy issue since Vietnam," Biden said.
On NBC, Biden addressed the security concerns ahead of the Olympics in Sochi, saying Russian officials have "every tool at their disposal” and that he would feel comfortable if his own family members attended the Games.
“Sure, I’d send my own family," Biden said, "with the same caveats, to make sure they were vigilant, make sure they kept their eyes open, register with the State Department and pay very much attention to their surroundings."
And Biden says he's bullish about the future of America in the world's economy.
"The president and I remain incredibly optimistic," he continued. "We are better positioned than any other nation in the world to lead the economy in the 21st century. China, Europe, no matter where you go, America is the engine."
