I doubt the drug use of Joe Biden's will negatively affect any political future he has (though other issues might).
In general, the American voting electorate no longer holds military service in such high esteem for politicians anyway, much less their adult children.
Americans formerly did, say from 1789 to 1989, when a politician having a war record was a definite plus - sometimes almost necessary (i.e. post Civil War & post-WW2).
But since 1989, not so much. From 1992-2008 every presidential election in which a war veteran ran against a non-war veteran, the non-war veteran won, sometimes by a wide margin.
In 2012, neither major political party came close to nominating someone with a military background for the first time in about 70 years.
And very, very few current senators or congressmen/congresswomen have ever served. The numbers grew fewer every election.
Is this bad?
I don't know.
The US went through another earlier drought in having elected representatives without military service, from the early 20th century (post-Teddy Roosevelt) era to the end of WW2 (post-Franklin D Roosevelt) era, and the nation didn't suffer too badly as a result.
But the experience of having served alongside fellow Americans from all geographical regions and all walks of life, from different religions and different races, in a selfless cause, in my opinion, makes for better citizens, better Americans. (I served alongside Eskimos and Apaches - where else would I get that opportunity!)
Of course, this isn't always the case (Lee Harvey Oswald was a veteran, after all), but in general I believe this is so.
