In my estimate the difference between Joe Biden and Barack Obama is that Joe feels a twinge of guilt when he accepts money from financial corporations and chafes against the resulting constraints. Obama believes that this is the way things ought to work--all part of the Rawlsian Consensus he so prizes. Same with Afganistan. The clue for me was the report that Obama was "serene" after making the decision to send more troops. I think Obama believes he is doing the right thing. Biden knows that he has had to do a lot of bad things but hopes that he can come out net positive in the end.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."