Saturday, August 23, 2008

It's Biden

There are plenty of predictions I've gotten wrong over the years, but this is my blog, so I will point out the rare occasion when I actually called it. You won't see me re-posting my "Kerry Will Win" prediction or my "Drake Bulldogs to the Sweet 16" prediction here. (But this one was pretty close.)

Picking Biden means there may be 1 or 2 days during the campaign where he says something off-script. And he won't deliver a state. But he doesn't need to be introduced to the American people and he reassures older voters, particularly Catholics and non-urbanites in the belt from Scranton to Dubuque.

I don't consider the fact that Sen. Obama has been in the Senate for less than a full term a problem; obviously, his judgment has been proven right time and again -- particularly in foreign affairs. But the word "inexperience" has become the all-purpose crutch for those unwilling to support Obama for non-ideological reasons, whether they are upset Hillary lost, are scared of change, believe whatever their second cousin e-mails them, or whatever else. Like the other VP candidates with long resumes (Nunn or Daschle), Biden provides an answer to that on paper. More than those other guys, though, Biden will respond with a flourish. Ultimately, as an Obama supporter, I think he's the right choice because over the last week, it's become apparent that Obama needs a counter-puncher who is more comfortable on the attack than Obama himself. As a political junkie, I'm thinking that after the shallowness of recent weeks, this campaign could actually get rather fun.

2 comments:

M Easter said...

re: Prescience of the United States.

Congrats on the correct pick! With all the secrecy, I was really starting to wonder about Clinton on Friday night.

PBS said...

Thanks! Now McCain has a real dilemma -- Pawlenty does not match up well against Biden, but a McCain/Romney ticket would seriously have too many homes to count. Frankly, as a Democrat, my bigger fear would be Mike Huckabee. I know he's goofy, but he does very well on the stump, and could help lock down VA, NC, and FL. There's no sign he's under consideration, though.