So much for that text message announcement. Obama really should’ve done it earlier – this afternoon at the latest. All he’s done now is piss off the morning papers by making them miss their deadline, and given the networks a scramble for Saturday morning. How very throwback to think you could avoid the internet attention – but then, they got what they wanted in millions more phone numbers. And the biggest winner of the day is big Telco. Hooray!
So what can we say about the choice? I must admit that I, like Jonah Goldberg it appears, have always had a soft spot for Joe Biden. He’s actually a lot like John McCain in his blunt personality, albeit without the history of heroism behind it, which forms a package some find entertaining and others abrasive.
He certainly fits Obama’s Cheneyesque goal in a choice, which is why I thought Biden was the likeliest selection this morning. (I get few “I told you so” moments, so allow me this one.) In the end, Obama wasn’t interesting in breaking down any political traditions by going for a dark horse, going courageous with Clinton or pissing off the netroots with Bayh or even swinging for a state with a targeted pick like Kaine – he just wanted an old white guy who’s been around Washington forever. And lo and behold, he found one!
Biden is a “reassure people” pick, not a Hope pick, and certainly not a Change pick. Say it with me now, and know it is one of the first times you’ve heard it said about Joe Biden without an accompanying snicker: GRAVITAS. Such a ludicrous word it’s become if it can be applied to this fellow, who is in so many ways an uninspiring Washington politician – an ornery chap who likes women a bit too much for his own good, a horrible liar during the Clarence Thomas hearings (and during a few others too), and yes, all of it coming with an ego the size of Jupiter.
What’s more, for a man who’s supposed to bring vast tracts of foreign policy experience to the table, he’s really more of a shoot from the hip type – take this TNR anecdote for example:
At the Tuesday-morning meeting with committee staffers, Biden launches into a stream-of-consciousness monologue about what his committee should be doing, before he finally admits the obvious: “I’m groping here.” Then he hits on an idea: America needs to show the Arab world that we’re not bent on its destruction. “Seems to me this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran,” Biden declares. He surveys the table with raised eyebrows, a How do ya like that? look on his face.
The staffers sit in silence. Finally somebody ventures a response: “I think they’d send it back.” Then another aide speaks up delicately: “The thing I would worry about is that it would almost look like a publicity stunt.” Still another reminds Biden that an Iranian delegation is in Moscow that very day to discuss a $300 million arms deal with Vladimir Putin that the United States has strongly condemned. But Joe Biden is barely listening anymore. He’s already moved on to something else.
So why do I still kind of like the man? Well, if I had to explain it, my view would come down to this:
Joe Biden does not believe that America is a bad idea.
This fact, of course, separates him from most liberal Democrats. Including Michelle Obama. And that is a good thing.
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News Flash...Liberals can't keep secrets very well
speciallist (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 2:26AM EST (link)“The news broke after a full day of intense media speculation that included stakeouts at the homes of the top three contenders. The Obama campaign had hoped to keep the selection secret until the Illinois senator could reveal it to his supporters in text messages.”
“Obama campaign officials declined to confirm Friday night that Biden was Obama’s selection as his running mate.”
I think it's a sign
Ben Domenech (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 2:38AM EST (link)That they didn’t really think this through. It seems clear they wanted to diminish the importance of the VP choice by waiting so late and doing only one event before the convo – as opposed to Kerry’s week-long tour of the country with Edwards. In the end, this whole charade attracted more attention, and the surprise at the end (for most people) won’t be a pleasant one.
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but on Hawaii time...nt
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 2:43AM EST (link)1
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
It's so funny...with texting, iphones, IM..
speciallist (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 2:47AM EST (link)There is really no way to keep the lid on something this big these days…
I’m sure the staffers had a bet going on who Could leak it first
Everyone is WELL connected..and the Fun continues!!
Biden: Obama Endorses Windpower!
streetwise (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 2:48AM EST (link)The energy crisis is over. Wind- cheap, plentiful and inexhaustible. You heard it here first.
Hot Air suggests that Obama's first choice backed out.
Moe Lane (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 2:48AM EST (link)http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/22/maybe-no-one-wanted-the-gig/
I don’t think so, but I do have to admit that it fits the observed facts well enough.
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So much for "Change"
29Victor (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 2:50AM EST (link)Biden is nothing if not a career Washington politician. But at least they’ve closed the “old white guy” gap. Now McCain needs to find himself a young, hip, good-looking Black man who is completely unfit to be President. I figure Will Smith should do.
McCain/Smith ’08!
I can't count all the red state dem guvs and others
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 2:53AM EST (link)that issued shermanesque statements and so removed themselves from being the first to refuse to join McGovern II
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
You have a point, and it's sad that you do
gensec (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 2:59AM EST (link)Joe Biden does not believe that America is a bad idea. This fact, of course, separates him from most liberal Democrats
Joe Biden is a joke and a terrible candidate, and that aspect is what got me laughing over Obama’s choosing him. But I agree with you, I don’t think Biden has the underlying resentment toward our supposedly sick American culture that eats at so many liberals. And whatever low blows he threw at Bork and Thomas, there was some minimal level of respect for democratic principles that he wouldn’t cross in his pursuit of their defeat. Whatever resentments (well justified) that people with long memories still have about those nominations, I’d ask wasn’t it still far fairer than what his successor as Judiciary chairman has done? Biden at least gave them a vote.
It’s unfortunate that we can’t take that level of Americanism for granted among our opposing party’s candidates, as we rip into them for lesser failings in the hardball of electoral politics. But sadly, the Democratic party has sunk to the state where Biden is exceptional in that respect.
That said, Biden is still a joke as a prospective VP, the proverbial heartbeat from the Presidency (though nowhere near the joke of Obama as President), and will make a pitiful candidate. I look forward to Romney slicing him to bits in the VP debate.
LOL..joke of the day..and thats sayin' something
speciallist (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 2:59AM EST (link)n/p
well stated - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 3:01AM EST (link)a
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
Will Smith, Unfit?
BigGator5 (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 3:03AM EST (link)Will Smith, unfit to be President? I don’t think so. Smith owns his own company, Treyball Development Inc along with his brother and he’s been a Producer on a couple of movies. Will Smith most likely has more experience in his pinky than Obama. I would vote for him any day of the week!
Educated (About The Issues Facing Us Today), Dedicated (To Making A Difference), And Highly Motivated (To Getting Things Done)
Environmentalists Worried Over Obama/Biden Ticket
Rushjr79 Saturday, August 23rd at 3:12AM EST (link)Trouble ahead for the Dems.
Agreed
Ben Domenech (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 3:13AM EST (link)On all counts.
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Remeber the stark contrast last Saturday between McCain and Obama?
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 3:14AM EST (link)I would love to see the American people see the contrast between Michael Steele as VP vs Obama as Presidenthahaha. Seriously, can anyone really say President Obama without laughing?
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
They should have started worrying when $4/gal
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 3:15AM EST (link)hit the pumps and people started noticing the difference in price between Lesuer peas and Kroger brand!
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
This important news just in...
speciallist (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 3:16AM EST (link)Special Open Thread # 4
by DarkSxxx
Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 01:04:14 AM PDT
Attention readers: when the cable news networks broke the story on Obama’s VP pick, it somehow means Obama broke his word to text us with the news.
Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!
Wow
MikeO Saturday, August 23rd at 3:21AM EST (link)I’ve just bookmarked your comment, gensec.
Thank you very much for so perfectly and succinctly articulating what has been eating me for months.
Of the finalists, he was the smartest pick
olderthangandalf Saturday, August 23rd at 6:06AM EST (link)I kind of thought it would be Biden (calling it when others thought Kaine), and I think he’s far from the worst pick Obama could have made.
He’s a regular guy, or at least comes off that way, which is something the Obama campaign needs. He’s been around Washington forever, and even if he puts foot in mouth with regularity, he’s not on anyone’s list of idiot Senators. He wants it, badly, and will probably be a team player. If Obama gets elected, he can be the bridge to the hill Obama will need to not be another Jimmy Carter. Most importantly of all, his pick is not going to anger and send home any important block of Democratic voters.
All along, though, I’ve thought McCain had the tougher task in picking a VP than Obama had. Obama just had to avoid a Thomas Eagleto pick. McCain has to pick someone that all three legs of the Republican coalition will support. That’s not going to be easy.
I must respectfully disagree.
ConservaGeek (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 7:34AM EST (link)Biden is a terrible choice, for several reasons.
Biden:
Has been a vocal critic of Obama. Remember the “Presidency is not a place for on-the-job training” comment?
Is hardly likely to excite the younger crowd. The guy is 65 years old, for cryin’ out loud!
Is not a logical messenger of Obama’s “HopeChange” message. He’s been in the Senate, literally, since John McCain was a guest at the Hanoi Hilton.
Has so many skeletons one closet can’t hold them all, including the plagiarism charge.
Makes me wonder if the GOP has someone in Obama’s campaign, whispering ideas in Senator I AM’s ear.
Richard Carlson as Geoff Montgomery: It’s worse than horrible because a zombie has no will of his own. You see them sometimes walking around blindly with dead eyes, following orders, not knowing what they do, not caring.
**Bob Hope as Larry Lawrence: You mean like Democrats?**
*”The Ghost Breakers,”* 1940.
It's All About Obamaramadingdong
Strelnikov (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 7:53AM EST (link)See my post on this (Obamaramdingdogn Misses Again): they do not want anyone stealing the lenses from Obama.
Biden’s baggage is irrelevant: he is more boring than McCain, so the focus will remain on the Second Coming and the Ataxalypse of Fairness!
As of November 4, 2008, the Code Words will be: “Klaatu – Borada – Nikto!”
Barry must be in worse shape than we thought,
CV_Gas (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 7:53AM EST (link)if his internal polling was telling him that Delaware was in trouble!
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing – Edmund Burke
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Didn't say he was trouble free
olderthangandalf Saturday, August 23rd at 8:12AM EST (link)I said he was the best of the finalists.
A couple of them – Kaine, Sebelius – have no track record of success, allowing the inexperience meme to resonate even more.
One – Bayh – enrages the netroots, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me, and Obama doesn’t want that.
Hillary would have been idiocy for a million reasons, and would have brought headaches galore for the entire time the partnership lasted.
As for Biden’s negatives, the negatives Biden has matter a lot less when paired up with Obama. Are people really going to not vote for Obama because Biden made a couple of racially insensitive remarks? Don’t think so. If he were heading the ticket, that would matter, or if he were running with almost anyone else, but Obama gives him cover.
As for the wealth of stupid comments and skeletons, yeah, but the question is how much people are really going to care.
And then there are the positives. He’s from Scranton, which is going to help with Pennsylvania – maybe put it out of reach if it helps Obama get a solid turnout from working class north eastern Pennsylvania. He’s got a son going to Iraq in October, which is going to matter to some people. More importantly, he seems normal, regular, solid, and Obama badly needs a dose of that right now.
Given the structural constraints, it will require a stroke of genius for McCain to emerge from the VP pick as well off.
None of which means we shouldn’t have some fun with Biden, or that we shouldn’t take every opportunity to try to pigeonhole him before the Democrats get their own chance. McCain was very, very smart to have ads ready to go even before the formal announcement. It just means that we would have had even more fun with some of the other picks.
Biden's "Working Class Roots"
phunwin Saturday, August 23rd at 8:48AM EST (link)I keep hearing Biden’s “working class roots” played up all over the place. I find this to be comical in the extreme. He’s been in the Senate well over half his life (the ultimate in privileged, white-collar work), and was an attorney and county councilman before that. He passed the bar exam in 1969 and was elected to the Senate in 1972, so basically he had a real job for all of three of his 65 years. I guess the media’s definition of working class roots differs from my own.
Biden’s dad was a car salesman in his youth, so I guess the family lived paycheck to paycheck. Okay, fine, the roots are working class…but the rest of the tree is as privileged as it gets.
Just wondering...
rbdwiggins (Diary) Saturday, August 23rd at 9:13AM EST (link)How many Democrats preempted or flat-out rejected Obama before Biden accepted the veep slot?
“Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn’t so.” – Ronald Reagan
Well, at least he found an inexhaustible supply
Dan McLaughlin (Diary) Monday, August 25th at 11:44AM EST (link)nt
“No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong.” – Winston Churchill