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What About Biden?

August 18th, 2008
By MARK DANIELS

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Speculation that Senator Joe Biden of Delaware will be Senator Barack Obama’s choice for vice presidential running mate is heating up.

For several reasons, Biden is a sensible choice. He fills several of the bottom-line needs Obama has from his number two. Maybe.

First, Biden is a mature, experienced office holder. He can play Lyndon Johnson to Obama’s JFK.

Second, Biden may be seen by many general election voters, by virtue of his long service on and chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the reassuring national security presence that potential Obama voters concerned by the Illinois senator’s seeming lack of an overall foreign policy, national security vision.

But Biden does not fit the bill for the third critical quality Obama needs in a running mate. He isn’t from the South.

I still think that former Georgia Senator and one-time Senate Armed Services Committee chair Sam Nunn is Obama’s best choice for a running mate, the one who can help him the most, especially in the Peach State, which may prove critical this November.

A major downside to Biden is that his version of the Straight Talk Express, while usually refreshing, can sometimes get him into trouble, as happened earlier this year when his characterization of Obama as “articulate” was seen as condescending and racist.

[This has been cross-posted at my personal blog.]



This entry was posted on Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 9:16 pm and is filed under Newsweek Blogitics, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, 2008 Elections, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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    Despite his criticism of the Bush Administration's handling of the war, Biden was actually an enthusiastic supporter of the war at the outset and was one of the biggest Democratic critics of withdrawal. Furthermore, he's about the biggest Democratic apologist for the failed War on (some) Drugs, dating back to the 1980's.

    Biden...definitely not change we can believe in.
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    I guess the question that people in both the Republican and Democratic parties need to answer is are they so bent on ideological purity or adherence to various litmus tests that they turn their noses up at everyone but Chauncey Gardiners, candidates with nothing disturbing to ruffle feathers? If two people agree on everything, at least one is irrelevant. If Obama or McCain are to win and to do so in a way that helps them govern effectively, they must grab the opportunities presented by this election year and dare to expand the bases of their parties by selecting running mates who don't agree with them on every point.
 
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