Biden's role: Obama's 'good cop'

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden's role in the upcoming Obama administration will be that of a "good cop" to the Congress, sources say.

With strong personal relationships on Capitol Hill built up over his 36-year career in the U.S. Senate, Biden's personal affability and ability to reach out to centrist Republicans will come in handy for President-elect Barack Obama, sources told the Washington publication Politico.

Biden's "good cop" personality would be in place to offset the "bad cop" reputation of U.S. Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, D-Ill., a highly partisan figure who will become Obama's White House chief of staff, Politico reported.

"I can see Joe in his (vice president's) room (just off the Senate chamber), smiling, slapping people on the back, making his points, working the members," former Sen. Bob Kerry, D-Neb., told the publication.

Others, however, point out that Biden's personal friendships and influence doesn't extend to the conservative wing of the Republican Party, whose members won't be likely to respond to personal diplomacy in the wake of their party's stunning defeat in last week's elections, Politico said.