I have always been a fan of Joe Biden, so I was happy with this morning's announcement that he will be Obama's running mate. Of all of the candidates that have been considered "serious" in recent weeks, he was definitely the best. Just a couple of quick thoughts...1. He is the perfect candidate to solidify the "I'm with you" narrative that McCain has allowed with his gaffes about his many houses, etc. Biden is the least affluent of the 100 senators, famously (or soon-to-be famously) commuted by train from Wilmington, Del. to Washington every night during his early years in the Senate. And was a single parent with young children for years after his first wife was killed in an auto accident (compare that with McCain leaving his wheelchair-bound first wife for a young blond heiress). Hopefully McCain will choose Mitt Romney to help solidify the rich, multiple house-owning, out-of-touch Republican ticket.
2. Not everyone likes him. Michelle, for instance, doesn't like him at all. She thinks he is a smarmy know-it-all. I don't imagine that will change her vote to McCain (I'm guessing nothing short of Obama choosing Clark Rockefeller as his running mate would do that), but I wonder how he will play with other young women, or it if will even matter.
3. The GOP is already out with a couple of ads showing Biden saying Obama isn't ready to be president, that he like McCain, etc. Ultimately this wont matter a whit--every candidate has bad things to say about a rival--but the GOP has to do it because they're expected to. These things are a lot like the pitcher throwing over to first base to check on a runner over and over again. Most of the time it doesn't result in an out, but the pitcher has to do it anyway in attempt to slow the runner down a step.
4. I love the idea of sending out the text message at 3:00 AM. After so much talk in the primary about who would be ready to take the call at 3:00 AM, it seems perfect. But I'll bet that some Hillary supporters will see it as a slap to the face, and we'll start to see stories come across the wire any minute now about peeved Clintonites feeling like their candidate was being mocked. Deal with it.
Tags: Election 2008 Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden
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