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Nobody texted me, but the nets are all calling it: Obama picks Biden for VP

by: Rosi Efthim

Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 01:28:54 AM EDT

Update: Text arrived 3:29am, two hours after this diary was posted. Woke me up. Dang- - Rosi

In Biden, Obama gets a street fighter whose toughness may serve as a needed counterpoint to Obama's smooth, gentlemanly style. He also gets a running-mate who possesses the longevity on the national scene that Obama lacks; Biden is the fouth-longest serving Democrat currently in the Senate. Obama prevailed by making the primary about judgement, not "experience," but now that he's got the nomination sewed up, it will not hurt to have Biden standing beside him, considering that McCain will likely try to throw "lack of experience" at Obama, as Hillary Clinton tried to do, with some success.

The scorecard on Biden's judgment is mixed. He is Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and you would think that perspective would lead him to more diplomatic solutions in the days after September 11. Yet, Biden voted for the war, jumping on the Bush bandwagon blaming Saddam Hussein for the World Trade Center, though only after a failed bi-partisan attempt (with ranking Republican Richard Lugar) to persuade the President to go to war only after diplomatic solutions failed.

Voters will also remember Biden's chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he presided over the media-saturated confirmation hearings of both Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas.

Biden's support of the credit-card company-backed Bankruptcy bill is fairly criticized as doing the bidding of the Delaware credit card industry. In another bit of unpleasantness, incidences of plagiarism will undoubtably surface again, but it remains to be seen whether the public will be swayed by them.

In a year where a bunch of Dems ran for president, only to watch the bloodfight between Clinton and Obama grab the headlines and the votes, Biden's own candidacy didn't attract much attention. But Biden is still seen as a very good utility player, the kind of guy who's been around long enough that nothing shakes him off his game. Biden is smart, tenacious, imperfect and substantial.

This is an Open Thread. Have at it, Blue Jersey.

Rosi Efthim :: Nobody texted me, but the nets are all calling it: Obama picks Biden for VP

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Nobody texted me, but the nets are all calling it: Obama picks Biden for VP | 11 comments

Not my first pick, but... (0.00 / 0)

Joe Biden certainly wasn't my first pick for VP...but nevertheless, I think it's still a great pick. He fills a ton of gaps in the Obama candidacy, and will be a hard hitting VP candidate, unlike Edwards in 2004. I am looking forward to the Obama-Biden ticket!

John Adler for Congress
http://www.adlerforcongress.com

by: MAS117 @ Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 00:33:57 AM CDT

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I agree (0.00 / 0)

I like Biden a lot despite some of his policy positions. Obama and Biden seem to have a lot more chemistry than Kerry and Edwards did.

I can't wait for the convention to start!

"Give me a lever long enough... and I shall move the world." - Archimedes

by: mconvente @ Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 00:45:47 AM CDT

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Agree (0.00 / 0)

Biden is a comfortable choice, in the good way of that word. He's statesmanlike - a good antidote to the vicious corporate cowboy Cheney is.

He comes with considerable foreign policy chops, an area where Obama has shown decent judgment but obviously less history. Good.

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.

by: Rosi Efthim @ Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 01:20:43 AM CDT

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Senator MBNA Supported The War (0.00 / 0)

I like Joe Biden and think this is a fine pick in the long run.

I am sure (fingers crossed) the Obama folks have worked out how Obama can attack McCain on the War Vote in 2002 when Biden was there also. Biden was a little late to the table on getting out, but he did sponsor a repeal of the AUMF.

The bankruptcy bill (hence the MBNA crack above) will also be hard for a lot of liberals to swallow, particularly those in the Net Roots.

But all in all Biden is a good, safe choice with a lot of gravitas.

He blunts the arguments that McCain is the only bi-partisan one out there, and also provides cover on international affairs.

In the long run Veeps don't mean much until they run for the big office themselves. Unless they are Darth Cheney.

by: huntsu @ Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 02:56:41 AM CDT

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a little neighborly pride (0.00 / 0)

of course, for many of us in south jerse who live closer to Wilmington than to Trentonia , Biden is -- literally -- a neighbor.

I am really satisfied with this pick, although hearing the news on BBC at 3am didn't do much for my plans to sleep in:)

Jay_Lass on Twitter.

by: Jay Lassiter @ Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 03:09:07 AM CDT

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Good enough (0.00 / 0)

Considering that dreadful shortlist, I'm really glad it's Biden.

On to November!

by: Jeff Gardner @ Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 06:58:07 AM CDT

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what was so dreadful about it? (0.00 / 0)

I'm no fan of Bayh and don't have a clue why Pelosi was so high on Edwards (Chet, not John), but both Tim Kaine and Kathleen Sebelius seemed like very good people who would have worked well with Obama.

I don't know who else was on the "short list", but you're just going to have to get over the fact that John Edwards is finished in politics and most people who don't love Hillary Clinton despise her, so neither had any place anywhere on anybody's "short list".

One of the best things that Barack Obama will be able to do to change politics in this country for the better if he wins in November is to appoint both Hillary and Bill Clinton to the Supreme Court as soon as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens step down so that we never have to hear from either ever again.

by: rachael'sdad @ Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 20:51:23 PM CDT

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My Prediction (4.00 / 1)

With Biden on the ticket, Pennsylvania (a state that jokes it has a 3rd US Senator in Joe Biden) is no longer a swing state. But Florida, where McCain has been consistently leading, will now become a tighter race.

by: Brian McGinnis @ Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 10:10:32 AM CDT

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Good points (0.00 / 0)

Also, Biden should help with the older voters, which will be great across the board as well as, of course, in Florida.

"Give me a lever long enough... and I shall move the world." - Archimedes

by: mconvente @ Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 11:07:49 AM CDT

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Obama/Biden Must Destroy McCain/Bush/Rove... (0.00 / 0)

....or be destroyed by them.

Sad to say there isn't much middle ground here.

If the election is close in Nov; we'll likely lose to another fix. We need to learn the lessons of the past.

McCain/Bush/Rove will trow out all manner of lies, distortions, mis-characterizations etc etc and those must be met, ounce for ounce with tons of rebuttals consisting of truth.

Biden's job is to help Obama (politically) slaughter John McCain. And, let there be no doubt that McCain deserves to reap what he has sown.

McCain signaled early on that he intended this to be a fair contest based on civil discussions of the issues...and he indicated dismay and even contempt for his "supporters" who would take "the low road".

When John McCain recently hired, essentially, the same Rovian crew that butchered his reputation in 2000, he put the lie to his pledge.

If the Obama/Biden ticket doesn't go thermonuclear in dismantling the mudslinging machine, they will lose this election.

If Obama/McCain do what must be done, they'll win in a massive landslide that will transform national politics (and maybe even NJ politics!!!) with many millions of new activated/energized voters who aren't going to just "go away" after the election.

I'll go into more detail in another place but, for now, let's enjoy the Biden nomination and the upcoming rally!!!

by: Nick Lento @ Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 12:52:22 PM CDT

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"The Delaware Crab" (3.00 / 1)

Americans are utterly disinterested in votes on bankruptcy bills, or any kind of small print, although it's a bad time to be associated with credit card companies. But there's nothing in Biden's record that isn't more than matched by McCain's, & whichever creep McCain picks for VP. I'm more concerned about the conservative Catholic Bishops flippin' their mitres over Biden's prochoice views. Once they start laying it on, they never lay off.

by: Wesleylake @ Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 17:29:02 PM CDT

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