wait, does that mean not everything in the American military was used to get to Bin Laden after 9/11?
I agree the hunt for Bin Laden would heat up again like never before, but in this TL the intelligence services apparently still don't know where Bin Laden is. The talks would continue about if he's actually still alive or not (altough a new video message by him praising and talking about the assassination in great detail would prove that he is), and where in the world he is then. Joe Biden would force Pakistan to actually start cooperating and allow the search for Bin Laden continue on Pakistani soil, but there would still be uncertainty (and plenty of fingerpointing between countries) if Bin Laden is in fact in Pakistan, Afghanistan or somewhere else in the Arab World.
First, yes. We kept a lot of forces in Europe to fight the Russians if they come, a lot of forces in Asia to fight the North Koreans, we sent troops to Iraq only 2-3 years after 9/11, to attack a regime that had nothing to do with Al-Quaida.
Of course, this could mean that Pakistan would be under a LOT of pressure. The US would be trying to get Bin Laden and co, while some inside are wanting Pakistan's government to topple. Others in the government want to hang on to power, and if they have to deal with Al-Quaida, so be it.
And if the US goes to war with Pakistan, expect people to look back more harshly on the US's policy of treating Pakistan as an ally.
Joe Biden is not Dan Quayle. The only real time Biden has put his foot in mouth that anybody remembers is him saying "big f'ing deal" during the signing of the ACA. It is not like he told a kid he spelled potato wrong when the kid spelled it right, or criticized Murphy Brown for being a single mother. Or shot his friend while quail hunting and never apologized.
Biden spent over 30 years in the senate and would have a better working relationship with the congress than Obama has in OTL. Biden would have an easier time getting legislation through congress (especially if the Democrats still controlled the House), because he would know just who he'd have to cajole in congress and he'd know how to go about doing it.
Biden also has his unquestioning support of going to war in Iraq around his neck. (Let me repeat what I've said before. HOUSE REPUBLICANS allowed for more debate on if Iraq had WMD than Biden did.) I don't see Biden doing much different from Obama, though he'd likely be less tone-deaf. Republicans would still stand against Obama. This isn't the 1960's, where the only ones deriding JFK were on the fringe.
I could see Ron Paul doing far better in 2012, especially since Osama would have killed a President despite all the wars and increased surveillance and police powers. He could say, "We've tried it your way for almost twenty years. Let's try a new way."
I could also see some changes in the Democrats. This could embolden the antiwar wing of the party, though I'm not sure if Biden would try and keep them down. I'd love it if Biden faced Kucinich in 2012.