Vice President Joe Biden is in Beirut today, hoping to boost the Lebanese moderates’ chances of holding off Hezbollah’s drive to seize power in the upcoming elections there. Best of luck, Joe.

Of course, it’s an open question whether Biden’s appearance will help or hurt the American-backed coalition led by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, which opposes Hezbollah. Despite disclaimers of neutrality, Biden stated clearly that future American aid to the government would be affected by the elections’ outcome.

“We will evaluate the shape of our assistance programs based on the shape of the new government,” Biden said. That is the right message, but given the administration’s overall policy of appeasing rather than pressuring Hezbollah’s Iranian sponsors, the statement may be compromised by everything else President Obama has said and done. Moreover, the context of this visit is the seeming collapse of the Cedar Revolution and the March 14 coalition, which the Bush administration rightly saw as a major achievement.

The problem is Obama wants to “engage” in a dialogue that strengthens Iran and seeks to make nice with the Syrians, who have done so much damage in Lebanon. Can America do so without impacting that country’s democratic forces’ chances of survival? Usually, vice presidents get sent to funerals. Biden’s visit may instead be to the deathbed of Lebanon.

On a lighter note, we should also remember that during last fall’s vice presidential debate, Biden, a self-proclaimed know-it-all on foreign policy, claimed that the United States had already kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon. Had Sarah Palin said something that stupid, it would have been fresh confirmation for her critics that she was unqualified for high office. This trip gives Biden a chance to rectify his gaffe. Unfortunately, it is more likely that his administration’s failure to stop Iran’s nuclear plans will also inevitably mean the collapse of any hope for a free Lebanon.