And Dukakis was a Massachusetts liberal, just like someone else who had no huge following — Kerry.

Obama has come out of nowhere to be taken very seriously. I believe, and I believe most believe, that Obama is the favored candidate this year, whereas McCain is a contemporary copy of Bob Dole.

And,

“The Obama brand has already cornered the market on people who genuinely want change. McCain is trying to poach that market based on his being the 'original maverick'.”

McCain does this at the expense of his many, often-defied fellow Republicans and at the expense of the rest of us who are non-liberal or conservative and see too often with McCain a Dem Lite, or someone being deliberately controversial to “his own” [sic] merely to get attention for himself.

Notice that a lot of criticism by libs and Dems at this very moment of Joe Lieberman is (likely often unwittingly) the same as what has been said for ages already about McCain. In that eerie way, Lieberman is the perfect VP choice for McCain, but I doubt it will change McCain's prospects for election this year at all. (McCain needs a token true conservative or even one who Just Says So like Romney for VP in order to do better.)

And Dukakis was a Massachusetts liberal, just like someone else who had no huge following — Kerry.

Obama has come out of nowhere to be taken very seriously. I believe, and I believe most believe, that Obama is the favored candidate this year, whereas McCain is a contemporary copy of Bob Dole.

And,

“The Obama brand has already cornered the market on people who genuinely want change. McCain is trying to poach that market based on his being the 'original maverick'.”

McCain does this at the expense of his many, often-defied fellow Republicans and at the expense of the rest of us who are non-liberal or conservative and see too often with McCain a Dem Lite, or someone being deliberately controversial to “his own” [sic] merely to get attention for himself.

Notice that a lot of criticism by libs and Dems at this very moment of Joe Lieberman is (likely often unwittingly) the same as what has been said for ages already about McCain. In that eerie way, Lieberman is the perfect VP choice for McCain, but I doubt it will change McCain's prospects for election this year at all. (McCain needs a token true conservative or even one who Just Says So like Romney for VP in order to do better.)

And Dukakis was a Massachusetts liberal, just like someone else who had no huge following — Kerry.

Obama has come out of nowhere to be taken very seriously. I believe, and I believe most believe, that Obama is the favored candidate this year, whereas McCain is a contemporary copy of Bob Dole.

And,

“The Obama brand has already cornered the market on people who genuinely want change. McCain is trying to poach that market based on his being the 'original maverick'.”

McCain does this at the expense of his many, often-defied fellow Republicans and at the expense of the rest of us who are non-liberal or conservative and see too often with McCain a Dem Lite, or someone being deliberately controversial to “his own” [sic] merely to get attention for himself.

Notice that a lot of criticism by libs and Dems at this very moment of Joe Lieberman is (likely often unwittingly) the same as what has been said for ages already about McCain. In that eerie way, Lieberman is the perfect VP choice for McCain, but I doubt it will change McCain's prospects for election this year at all. (McCain needs a token true conservative or even one who Just Says So like Romney for VP in order to do better.)

Biden knows international threats and can shoot down ridiculous responses raised by any surrogate that McCain can throw at him. The greatest use of a VP candidate in an election is as the attack dog surrogate while the Presidenial candidate stays above the fray. If there is one attack dog I could point to in the Democratic party that will fill that role, it is Joe Biden. He will call an attack what it is, will pull no punches and will be unapologetic about it.

Selecting a VP candidate to win a particular state is over rated, other than LBJ winning Texas for Kennedy in 1960, point to one state where that strategy has made a difference.

The Obama brand has already cornered the market on people who genuinely want change. McCain is trying to poach that market based on his being the “original maverick”. Unfortunately for him there is too much recent history to show that it is nothing more than spin. What is holding Obama back is the concern that he does not have the bona fide skills to address international problems. Biden solves that problem. More importantly, he would fill the role as the attack dog that Obama is uncomfortable with doing.

Biden knows international threats and can shoot down ridiculous responses raised by any surrogate that McCain can throw at him. The greatest use of a VP candidate in an election is as the attack dog surrogate while the Presidenial candidate stays above the fray. If there is one attack dog I could point to in the Democratic party that will fill that role, it is Joe Biden. He will call an attack what it is, will pull no punches and will be unapologetic about it.

Selecting a VP candidate to win a particular state is over rated, other than LBJ winning Texas for Kennedy in 1960, point to one state where that strategy has made a difference.

The Obama brand has already cornered the market on people who genuinely want change. McCain is trying to poach that market based on his being the “original maverick”. Unfortunately for him there is too much recent history to show that it is nothing more than spin. What is holding Obama back is the concern that he does not have the bona fide skills to address international problems. Biden solves that problem. More importantly, he would fill the role as the attack dog that Obama is uncomfortable with doing.

Are you also forgetting Willie Horton? And that brutal, below-the-belt death penalty question from Bernard Shaw – and Dukakis dumbfounding answer? And the photo-op of Dukakis riding a tank? Fair or not, all these things helped define Dukakis in a very unflattering light.

Also keep in mind that Biden would be running for VP, not President, so his success as a presidential candidate is neither here nor there. The role of the VP candidate in a campaign is substantially different from that of the Presidential candidate.

Is Biden the perfect candidate? No. But if this is the pick, Obama could definitely do much worse.

Personally, I think the best candidate would be Clinton. If you're going to pick an inside-the-beltway type, why not go with someone who can deliver a substantial number of voters too? But it won't happen.

Don't forget that Al Gore didn't do so well either in '88.

Joe Biden has dearly paid for the plagiarism incident. If that's the worst dirt Republicans can throw at him, we'll take our chances–Joe Biden will throw the mud right back at them, twice as hard.