Biden’s Most Important Role For Obama

It could be THIS.

UPDATE II: The Biden pick, what it means and what’s likely to come next. Dick Polman weighs in.

UPDATE III: I wasn’t going to weigh in on this, since there are so many superb posts today here on The Moderate Voice reflecting different viewpoints about Biden and giving some new first-hand information about him as a person. But I got several emails asking for my take, so here it is:

Biden was my favorite during the Democratic debates and has been my favorite on interview shows for many years. He can be exceedingly-blunt, fast with a great quip (those of us in show biz appreciate that — and those of us who were Polisci majors appreciate what it means in getting a message across quickly to an often attention-deficit electorate). He is also one of the most solid members in Congress when he talks on policy. Even if you disagree with him, he throws out a lot of meat and knows how to package it so it’s understandable and compelling.

Biden’s real value to Obama will come on the stump. The same bluntness, humor and grasp of policy that made me want to watch him on TV shows and in debates will be now on display full-time for the Obama-Biden ticket. Since the man is a master at talking in sound-bites — and talking in general — he should wear well with reporters who are still, in these days of blogs and talk shows, a key component to a candidate getting the message out. In the traditional role of Vice Presidential attack-dog, Biden knows how to say what he wants to say in a way that’ll get a lot of attention. In one sense, Joe Biden’s style is a bit closer to the style of McCain in 2000.

On the other hand, as others have noted, the Obama team will need to assign a political doctor to ensure Biden doesn’t uncontrollably stick his foot in his mouth and say things that’ll become the controversy of the day. But the pluses outweigh the minuses, even though the talking points against Biden were out within minutes of it being clear he was going to get the nod. The Demmies will get the talking points out about McCain’s nominee within minutes as well.

FOOTNOTE: Be sure to read all of our posts here on TMV since not everyone agrees with this assessment. And read Andrew Sullivan.