He knows how many houses he has: one. In Delaware. He commutes between there and DC on Amtrak. He ranks at or near the bottom in terms of wealth among U.S. Senators. He's a Catholic from a working-class family in Scranton, PA--where they love him. He'll help neutralize Obama's so-called "Appalachian problem" and defuse the stupid "elitist" nonsense coming from Seven-House John.
He's got a personal narrative that can go up against POW John POW McPOW Cain's. His wife and daughter were killed in a car wreck caused by a drunk driver and his sons were badly injured. He was sworn in to the Senate for the first time from their hospital room. One of his sons is scheduled to be deployed to Iraq this October.
He's got serious foreign policy cred. This neutralizes another perceived weakness of Obama's while making it easier to chip away at the myth of McCain as some kind of foreign policy expert. Also, the Beltway Villagers like him--which is important, since Obama's got to work against the political press whose lips are surgically attached to St. John's Maverick dick. (I apologize for any permanent mental scarring caused by this image.)
He's an attack dog. Sometimes he misfires and shoots himself in the foot, no question. But he's also the guy who helped doom Rudy Giuliani's candidacy by calling him out and coining the phrase, "A noun, a verb, and 9/11" to describe him. He's already out there swinging: "John McCain will have to figure out which of his seven kitchen tables to sit at."
Biden's not perfect. I still remember his disgraceful performance during Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings. He voted for the war in Iraq. He's only got a 60% rating from the ACLU. And he was responsible for the horrific bankruptcy bill that basically gives the credit card companies the right to fuck you up the ass without lube--and yes, that's personal for me. But he definitely brings stuff to the ticket--without being someone who will overshadow the nominee. And frankly, I'd much rather see him on the ticket than Bayh or Kaine. Sebelius would have been nice, but the reality is that she's largely unknown outside of Kansas, a state that's unlikely to go blue, and she does nothing to offset Obama's perceived experience gap, particularly in foreign policy. Richardson was my choice, but he's got some questionable stuff in his background with possible sexual harassment.
What I honestly don't understand is why anyone thought for a second that Obama was going to choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate. No matter where she'd be on the ticket, the visceral loathing many on the right feel for the woman they spent 8 years demonizing would bring out the vote--including the conservative evangelicals, who are largely underwhelmed by McCain. Also, there's no reality in which Barack wants Bill within 100 miles of the White House--and based on what we saw in the primaries, Bill is incapable of shutting the fuck up and not getting in Hillary's way.
I can't see Hillary accepting it, either. If Obama wins, then the VP's next chance at the top job will be 2016. Clinton will be 69, and given how much whispering there is about McCain's age, can you imagine what people will say about a nearly 70-year-old woman? More importantly, the VP's job is to support the President. Hillary spent 8 years doing that for a man she loves; why on earth would she want to do it again for a guy she doesn't like very much, who came in and captured the nomination when it was supposed to be her turn?
And honestly, in what universe did anyone really think the black guy wasn't going to pick a white guy for his running mate? Much as I'd have liked to see two people of color on the ticket (Obama/Richardson), I'm not sure this country's ready for one nontraditional candidate on the ticket, let alone two.
I'm just crossing my fingers in hopes that McCain will pick Mitt Romney for his running mate.
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