Joe Biden. Clean. Articulate. Vice-Presidential.
So it’s official. Well, it was official several hours ago. Anyhow, Obama is going with Biden for his VP choice. They had a formal introduction/speech thingy today in Illinois. My impressions of this choice?
Well, I’ll admit, my first impression was basically, “Whom?” I didn’t really know much of anything at all about Biden. Thankfully that changed quickly and I gotta say that at this point, I think he was an excellent choice. His foreign policy experience may not be as extensive as that of (hopefully future SecState) Bill Richardson, but it’s still really good, and given that’s one of the big things the GOP has slammed Obama on, hopefully this will help compensate (although I notice they’re complaining about how Biden himself slammed Obama on the issue back during the primaries. I wonder what they’ll have to say if Mitt Romney is chosen by McCain? He was rather harsh on the guy, after all).
Beyond that, Biden helps the party in Pennsylvania and can shore up votes in Deleware and surrounding states. Also the fact that he’s already 65 means that it’s highly unlikely he’ll run for President in 2016 (assuming Obama is elected and gets two terms). This means he won’t be too focused on setting himself up for the future. It also could mean that for the first time in my life, the President picks a different running mate for his second term than for his first.
Lasty, we can’t forget the “attack dog” aspect of the VP candidate. I think Biden brings a lot to the plate in this area. He’ll be someone who will help keep the left of the party focused on the election and who can bite back hard against the McCain camp as they continue their smear campaign.
I certainly look forward to seeing who McCain picks for his running mate (right now I’d guess Romney, but we’ll see). It won’t make me change my vote, but his choice is likely to be more relevant to the electorate, given his age and the greater likelihood the VP would end up becoming President. No matter who he picks, though, Obama has his man and the election just got that much more interesting!
(ps: I notice Biden’s middle name is Robinette. I figure we’ll hear anti-French bashing no later than the end of the week)
