Obama’s V.P. Pick: Joe Biden
By Matthew Frank, 8-23-08
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Barack Obama has chosen Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate.
Biden, who has been a senator for more than 30 years, is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He brings to the ticket foreign policy and national security experience Obama lacks.
A campaign text message to supporters Saturday morning read: “Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm ET on www.BarackObama.com. Spread the word!”
But cable news networks broke the story before the campaign text messages and emails went out.
Mark Halperin of Time breaks down the pros and cons of Biden:
He has served as chairman of both the Judiciary Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee, traveling the globe to meet world leaders and to be directly involved in almost every major international and domestic debate of the last two generations. He has excelled as both a speaker and a debater. His Irish-Catholic heritage makes him a demographic dream in appealing to swing voters. He is both a Washington insider and a hero to working-class Americans and labor union leaders, in part because of his rhetoric, but also because of his own middle class upbringing. He has mastered the art of the network Sunday show television appearance as well as the classic vice-presidential skill of savagely attacking his political opponents with both a smile and the use of casual, kitchen-table idioms.
But…
Balanced against all of those unmatched qualifications is one quality that has afflicted Biden for as long as anyone can remember: a persistent tendency to say silly, offensive, and off-putting things. Over the next few days (and, likely, weeks) some of Biden’s ungreatest hits of gab will be recycled by the media and Republicans aiming to take the luster off Obama’s choice of running mate. The central mystery for those who have watched Biden over the years is this: how could someone so smart, experienced, and articulate be his own worst enemy by saying just the wrong thing at just the wrong moment?
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Obama introducing Biden Saturday:
Biden’s speech:
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Comments
He has been recorded saying how he would honored to be McCain's running mate or running against him. It is my hope that his selection will bring a measure of respectful civility arising from their long time friendship.
Craig obviously doesn't know anything about Biden if he thinks Biden is going to be civil, grin, and politely take it as the Republican's continue their Jerome Corsi smears.
Did you hear about McSame's and Paris's 9 vehicle motorcade to go pick up lattes yesterday? That's probably not elitist.
Even better, Joe is the attack dog Obama needs to take a few bites out of McCain's nonstop lies.