I think the campaign will probably keep Biden on a tight leash–he’s pretty gaffe-prone (Obama being “clean and articulate,” the whole Indian-convenience-store thing, etc.) but does lend a veneer of experience to an otherwise inexperienced Obama. And hey, it secures those highly important Delaware electoral votes.
Biden gives the ticket foreign policy credibility. No doubt. The problem is that Obama needs to focus on the future of economics. That is what Americans are worried about. Middle America no longer cares about Rev. Wright or Iraq much anymore — they care about keeping their homes, paying for college, putting food on the table, etc. , etc. Obama needs to ensure that they can do these things.
Biden on the other hand needs to hammer the hell out of McCain!
McCain’s kept his choice really close to the vest. There’s all sorts of rumors swirling around. Lieberman, Colin Powell, Tom Ridge (those three would be tough for the conservative base to swallow). Also possibly Eric Cantor, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, a lot of others. Politically I think Palin would be an awesome choice, as a strongly pro-life, populist-conservative, lifetime NRA member; she’s young (44), attractive, well-spoken, basically a lot of things McCain isn’t. Practically, though, I’d worry about having a half-term Governor of Alaska one heartbeat away from the Presidency in these times.
It’ll be interesting to see how hard Biden goes on the attack against McCain. They’re awfully chummy in the Senate, and the two of them have had a lot of good things to say about each other in the past. McCain was actually praising the Biden choice over the weekend as a good one.
Personally, I believe McCain is floating moderate names to make Independents and certain Hillary supporters happy. Colin Powell is all over the map this year–from backing Obama to becoming McCain’s VP. McCain’s camp appears to be encouraging the discussion of the later, despite the fact that all signs point to the former.
Biden will have no problem being aggressive towards McCain. Despite the short lease, they cannot keep him from barking.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do–and very little pay to earn.
I would also prefer someone else given Biden’s stance on abortion and the death penalty. I guess you can’t win them all anymore. It’s the sad reality of the modern welfare state.
Palin’s been talked about as the VP choice for months, but in recent weeks she fell off the radar behind Ridge, Pawlenty, Lieberman, Romney, and for a while, Eric Cantor. When you look at it from a political standpoint though, it’s a very smart choice. She’s an avowed conservative that will help shore up the base, she’s a bit of a “maverick” herself because she bucked the GOP party establishment in Alaska to get elected Governor, she’s got a great family story, and–whether this is fair or not, and I’ve already gotten deservedly bludgeoned by Lauren over on my blog for mentioning it this way–she’s a pretty good-looking woman. (OK, the term I used was “naughty-librarian hot.” Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.)
Does it take away the “experience” issue from Obama? A little. But that can be spun another way–believe it or not, Palin has a little more executive experience than Obama. She’s been Governor of Alaska for almost two years, mayor of Wasilla before that. Obama’s had two years in the Senate, two years in the Illinois State Senate, and his “community activist” job before that.
This move has re-energized McCain’s campaign, and from a cynical political standpoint, he’s shoved The Coronation off of cable and talk radio twelve hours after it happened. I don’t know who’s pulling the strings over at Johnny Mac Central, but whoever they are, they’re pretty good.
Oh, Marty, you might be interested in this. David Brooks did a very long investigative piece on the Obama and Clinton campaigns, called “Relentless,” that’s up over at politico.com. I’m halfway through it and it’s fascinating. It really shows how badly Hillary’s campaign blew it, and how incredibly good the Obama campaign was in comparison. It’s fascinating reading.
OK, and Obama’s had four years in the Senate, not two, so my apologies on that. Man, I should’ve just stayed in bed this morning. The fail is strong with this one. I’m just so gobsmacked that a Republican actually did something right politically for once…
I think the campaign will probably keep Biden on a tight leash–he’s pretty gaffe-prone (Obama being “clean and articulate,” the whole Indian-convenience-store thing, etc.) but does lend a veneer of experience to an otherwise inexperienced Obama. And hey, it secures those highly important Delaware electoral votes.
Biden gives the ticket foreign policy credibility. No doubt. The problem is that Obama needs to focus on the future of economics. That is what Americans are worried about. Middle America no longer cares about Rev. Wright or Iraq much anymore — they care about keeping their homes, paying for college, putting food on the table, etc. , etc. Obama needs to ensure that they can do these things.
Biden on the other hand needs to hammer the hell out of McCain!
Biden on the other hand needs to hammer the hell out of McCain!
Yep! And he’s already started. As I’ve said elsewhere…I think Biden was a good choice.
Let’s hope!
What’s with the picture? Who dat?
…
Don’t anyone show my husband this post.
I’ve been hearing about Obama binBiden all weekend.
McCain’s kept his choice really close to the vest. There’s all sorts of rumors swirling around. Lieberman, Colin Powell, Tom Ridge (those three would be tough for the conservative base to swallow). Also possibly Eric Cantor, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, a lot of others. Politically I think Palin would be an awesome choice, as a strongly pro-life, populist-conservative, lifetime NRA member; she’s young (44), attractive, well-spoken, basically a lot of things McCain isn’t. Practically, though, I’d worry about having a half-term Governor of Alaska one heartbeat away from the Presidency in these times.
It’ll be interesting to see how hard Biden goes on the attack against McCain. They’re awfully chummy in the Senate, and the two of them have had a lot of good things to say about each other in the past. McCain was actually praising the Biden choice over the weekend as a good one.
The picture is of me and the freelance genius.
Personally, I believe McCain is floating moderate names to make Independents and certain Hillary supporters happy. Colin Powell is all over the map this year–from backing Obama to becoming McCain’s VP. McCain’s camp appears to be encouraging the discussion of the later, despite the fact that all signs point to the former.
Biden will have no problem being aggressive towards McCain. Despite the short lease, they cannot keep him from barking.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do–and very little pay to earn.
I prefer an Obama/Richardson ticket. Biden is business as usual.
I know who took that picture!!!!!!!!!!!
I would also prefer someone else given Biden’s stance on abortion and the death penalty. I guess you can’t win them all anymore. It’s the sad reality of the modern welfare state.
Why is that picture so small? Whatever.
There is a lot less of The Genius to love now.
Obama/Biden, meet McCain/Palin. Bring it.
I think in terms of motivation and energy, McCain/Palin is the ticket that has to bring it. However, nice predictive powers Lewis!
Palin’s been talked about as the VP choice for months, but in recent weeks she fell off the radar behind Ridge, Pawlenty, Lieberman, Romney, and for a while, Eric Cantor. When you look at it from a political standpoint though, it’s a very smart choice. She’s an avowed conservative that will help shore up the base, she’s a bit of a “maverick” herself because she bucked the GOP party establishment in Alaska to get elected Governor, she’s got a great family story, and–whether this is fair or not, and I’ve already gotten deservedly bludgeoned by Lauren over on my blog for mentioning it this way–she’s a pretty good-looking woman. (OK, the term I used was “naughty-librarian hot.” Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.)
Does it take away the “experience” issue from Obama? A little. But that can be spun another way–believe it or not, Palin has a little more executive experience than Obama. She’s been Governor of Alaska for almost two years, mayor of Wasilla before that. Obama’s had two years in the Senate, two years in the Illinois State Senate, and his “community activist” job before that.
This move has re-energized McCain’s campaign, and from a cynical political standpoint, he’s shoved The Coronation off of cable and talk radio twelve hours after it happened. I don’t know who’s pulling the strings over at Johnny Mac Central, but whoever they are, they’re pretty good.
Oh, Marty, you might be interested in this. David Brooks did a very long investigative piece on the Obama and Clinton campaigns, called “Relentless,” that’s up over at politico.com. I’m halfway through it and it’s fascinating. It really shows how badly Hillary’s campaign blew it, and how incredibly good the Obama campaign was in comparison. It’s fascinating reading.
OK, not David Brooks. It was Roger Simon. I AM MADE OF FAIL.
OK, and Obama’s had four years in the Senate, not two, so my apologies on that. Man, I should’ve just stayed in bed this morning. The fail is strong with this one. I’m just so gobsmacked that a Republican actually did something right politically for once…