Bitin' Biden

Bitin' Biden

When Senator Joe Biden (D - DE) was himself still a candidate for President, he said of Rudy Giuliani, "All of his sentences contain a noun, a verb, and 9/11." I fell out of my chair laughing. Giuliani didn't, the poor man lost most of his support because that comment hit the nail on the head and people realized it. Joe Biden has never been afraid to speak his mind. He is famous for plain-speaking. And in the past it has gotten him into trouble. Recent Presidential campaigns though, have found the Vice-presidential candidate's role becoming that of attack dog and Biden will probably be very good at it.

Barack Obama never seems comfortable on the attack. He feels deep inside that people should choose based on a candidate's positive aspects. Obama wants to talk about what he will do for us. He wants to live on a higher plain of existence. I think that this is an admirable quality and I wish that it was the way campaigns succeeded, but sadly, it's not. Biden will fill the attack dog role very well.

Today, at an event in Springfield, Illinois, Obama officially announced his choice of Biden for his running mate. Biden took the podium and made a good speech. He lauded Obama, invoked Lincoln, and attacked McCain. My favorite rip on McCain was when Biden said that we Americans sit around the kitchen table at night and try to figure out how to pay the bills and John McCain can't decide which of his seven kitchen tables to sit at. Classic.

Most Vice-presidential candidates don't have a big effect on the outcome of the Presidential election. They say that people vote for the President, not the Vice-president. But in this case, Biden could be the difference between winning and losing. He could fill a need for balance. People who would vote Democratic but see Obama as a black aloof elitist might be swayed by a white, Catholic, blue collar supporting, man of the people. Biden can be mean to McCain safely, saving Obama from that task. The fear is that Biden could go too far and say the wrong thing, hurting the campaign. Joe Biden is a wildcard. In card games the wildcard is almost always a good thing. I hope Joe Biden is a good thing for the Democratic Party.

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