It's Biden
This is pretty much confirmation, no?
If this is true, I think it's a great choice by Obama. Biden's not perfect, of course: I've had my issues with him over the years, particularly his sleazeball tactics in pushing the godawful RAVE Act through Congress. And of course his periodic bouts of foot-in-mouth disease are problematic. But, despite his flaws, I've been high on Biden as a potential national candidate ever since his 2004 convention speech. On foreign policy and the war on terror, Biden is a serious, sensible grown-up. You always get the sense that -- whether or not you agree with his stances -- he understands the stakes, and isn't afraid to state them clearly, which is, alas, more than can be said for many Democrats. (Republicans, by contrast, almost always seem able to articulate the stakes, even when they don't know what the hell to do about the problem, or propose a cure that's worse than the disease.) He's also got a helluva lot of experience and knowledge -- you might even say expertise -- in the foreign-policy arena, which is one key reason why I've been saying since mid-December, and more loudly since early January, that he'd be an excellent veep pick for the inexperienced Obama. And of course he's got the whole working-class, hardscrabble, straight-shooter street cred, blah blah blah. But for me, really, it's all about the foreign policy stuff. And Biden was clearly the best choice in that regard.
I didn't think Obama would pick him; I suspected the media talk was mostly hype. So I'm pleasantly surprised (again, assuming this is true). You done good, Barack.
P.S. Whether the vice-presidential battle of the Senators Joe will come to fruition, remains to be seen.
I kinda think Delaware Joe would wipe the floor with Connecticut Joe in a debate, though. Again: hardscrabble. :)
UPDATE, 12:11 AM: I'm still not completely ruling out the possibility that this whole Biden thing is a massive head-fake, and Obama will shock the freakin' world tomorrow by rolling out... AL GORE. (Does anyone know where the Goreacle is? Do we have confirmation he's not in Chicago?) But at this point, it seems like Biden would have to be "in" on the head-fake, and apparently so would the Secret Service. That's pretty hard to believe. So I imagine it's really and truly Biden.
UPDATE, 12:50 AM: I just got a text message -- not from Barack Obama, but from CNN:
"CNN confirms Sen. Barack Obama has chosen Delaware Sen. Joe Biden to be his vice-presidential running mate."
It's like I said earlier: Obama & co. were being too greedy, thinking they could keep this a secret until literally a few hours before the Springfield rally. They should have texted earlier this evening.
Anyway... Yay! Biden!
UPDATE, 12:59 AM: AP confirms, too.
The United States Secret Service has dispatched a protective detail to assume the immediate protection of Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., a source tells ABC News, indicating in all likelihood that Biden has been officially notified that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, has selected him to be his running mate.
If this is true, I think it's a great choice by Obama. Biden's not perfect, of course: I've had my issues with him over the years, particularly his sleazeball tactics in pushing the godawful RAVE Act through Congress. And of course his periodic bouts of foot-in-mouth disease are problematic. But, despite his flaws, I've been high on Biden as a potential national candidate ever since his 2004 convention speech. On foreign policy and the war on terror, Biden is a serious, sensible grown-up. You always get the sense that -- whether or not you agree with his stances -- he understands the stakes, and isn't afraid to state them clearly, which is, alas, more than can be said for many Democrats. (Republicans, by contrast, almost always seem able to articulate the stakes, even when they don't know what the hell to do about the problem, or propose a cure that's worse than the disease.) He's also got a helluva lot of experience and knowledge -- you might even say expertise -- in the foreign-policy arena, which is one key reason why I've been saying since mid-December, and more loudly since early January, that he'd be an excellent veep pick for the inexperienced Obama. And of course he's got the whole working-class, hardscrabble, straight-shooter street cred, blah blah blah. But for me, really, it's all about the foreign policy stuff. And Biden was clearly the best choice in that regard.
I didn't think Obama would pick him; I suspected the media talk was mostly hype. So I'm pleasantly surprised (again, assuming this is true). You done good, Barack.
P.S. Whether the vice-presidential battle of the Senators Joe will come to fruition, remains to be seen.
I kinda think Delaware Joe would wipe the floor with Connecticut Joe in a debate, though. Again: hardscrabble. :)
UPDATE, 12:11 AM: I'm still not completely ruling out the possibility that this whole Biden thing is a massive head-fake, and Obama will shock the freakin' world tomorrow by rolling out... AL GORE. (Does anyone know where the Goreacle is? Do we have confirmation he's not in Chicago?) But at this point, it seems like Biden would have to be "in" on the head-fake, and apparently so would the Secret Service. That's pretty hard to believe. So I imagine it's really and truly Biden.
UPDATE, 12:50 AM: I just got a text message -- not from Barack Obama, but from CNN:
"CNN confirms Sen. Barack Obama has chosen Delaware Sen. Joe Biden to be his vice-presidential running mate."
It's like I said earlier: Obama & co. were being too greedy, thinking they could keep this a secret until literally a few hours before the Springfield rally. They should have texted earlier this evening.
Anyway... Yay! Biden!
UPDATE, 12:59 AM: AP confirms, too.
posted by Brendan Loy at
8/22/2008 11:27:00 PM
