So it's Biden, most likely? Thoughts?

[PresidentObama]

Sources say Kaine is out. Sources close to Bayh says he's out of the running.

I don't think it'll be Sebelius. Or Hillary Clinton.

CNN is reporting some sort of action outside the Biden family home earlier, including a cop car.

So it's most likely Joe Biden?

Thoughts if it is?

I personally think it's a smart move, if it happens. Biden is out spoken, and very experienced. Has a lot of foreign policy and Washington experience, and while he doesn't help really in any states--he's good at balancing Obama's little experience in Washington.

[blondeatlast]

1. When I know, I'll let you know. Y'all are trying real hard, but it ain't working. nt

[PresidentObama]

2. I'm not trying hard at anything, but using logic to narrow it down.

[blondeatlast]

5. And you'll get my thoughts when I know who it is. nt

[saltpoint]

3. Right now I'm just standing back and admiring how much command the

Obama camp has demonstrated in the past couple weeks. Actually since last year this time or so.

Some mighty impressive folks running that show.

[PresidentObama]

6. I love watching Wolf Blitzer pretend for two hours he knows what's going on.

For once the MSM is clueless.

[KAZ]

18. THAT'S why I'm so happy today. You've nailed it.

[flamingdem]

21. I don't have a TV but I'm equally giddy nt

[TahitiNut]

23. Wolf Blitzer has a lot of experience pretending to know anything.

A dimmer bulb is hard to find, but I'm sure his puppeteers have tried.

[babylonsister]

7. Amen! And you know they've planned this down to a tee. nt

[thunder rising]

8. I do admire the discipline. Republicans are shit compared to this.

[Robeson]

16. You're right....

...he's representing a new paradigm.

[Inspired]

4. Obama/Biden...kind of rhythmic. I like it!

I've always liked Joe Biden.

[PresidentObama]

9. It has a nice ring, eh? Biden is a good man.

[Inspired]

13. I didn't care too much before but find myself getting excited about this ticket.

I hope it is true.

[TahitiNut]

24. I guarantee we'd see "Obama bin Biden" from the right.

:shrug:

You heard it here first. :puke:

[MattNC]

10. Mixed feelings

Biden's extraordinarily qualified. Politically, I worry about quotes from Biden in the past regarding McCain, Obama's experience, Iraq, etc.

[PresidentObama]

12. Just remember: there was NO such perfect running mate. Biden is a strong pick.

And that, I like!

[MattNC]

15. no one's perfect

but there's not video of other running mates questioning Obama's experience and readiness to lead.

[RichGirl]

11. I like Biden and I'd be okay with him...

...but he's a loose cannon. He's not good at self-censoring. Remember a while back he made a remark about Obama, like he was clean and articulate. Don't remember exactly. He didn't mean anything by it but it did offend people.

[TTUBatfan2008]

20. And Obama stood up for him on it...

Obama is good friends with him and trusts that his heart is in the right place. And believe it or not, those kind of comments might help with some of the lower information voters who, gulp, have a problem with Obama's race but support his political positions. Maybe if they see Obama's tolerance toward Biden's comments, they'll realize he's not a scary black guy after all and tries to work with others to get things done. It's almost similar to when people said Kobe Bryant's rape scandal would help give him street cred because he was always so squeaky clean before that. Logically it doesn't make sense, but for some reason that's how these things tend to work.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

14. I think he'll help in PA, with blue collar folks, and probably OH too.

He'll fight like a badger. He has a rep as talking off the cuff, and it'll prob cause some minor headaches, but he'll be an asset.

[KAZ]

17. No problems here. IMHO there are many good picks, and he's one of em.

[Citizen Kang]

19. Biden doesn't excite me

He gaffe prone, from the northeast, a consummate DC insider, is bought and paid for by the financial and credit-card industry....... I'm underwhelmed.

[Carolina]

26. exactly

I'm more than underwhelmed. I am disappointed. I wanted SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T VOTE for IWR!

[progressiveforever]

22. Biden's Great, but I'm afraid he doesn't bring much to the ticket

I like Joe Biden and he will excite the NE part of the US which mostly already in Obama's camp. The only reason--and I do mean the only reason, that I am hoping (with reservation) that it is HRC is that she may actually influence the swing states- like Ohio.

[Smarmie Doofus]

38. Biden will help lots there. Blue collar, catholic ,working class roots...

.... prolabor, foreign policy heavyweight, has family roots in PA, hugely interesting personal story.

Hillary brings nothing approaching any of this. OK... she has family roots in PA. That's it.

[Mass]

25. Most likely. Biden and his family have lived with the media at their door for 5 days now.

If it was not them, my guess is that they would have said so. But who knows?

[kwolf68]

27. If its Joe Biden then Im happy

Senator Biden isn't perfect, but he's a good man....and has championed important issues/causes with dexterity of knowledge and wit. There are plenty of lesser people than him who have been in consideration.

Having Biden on the ticket locks my vote in for Obama.

[highplainsdem]

28. I like Biden, but he can't unite the party this year. Odds of winning without a united party - ????

I'd be tremendously disappointed in Obama if he didn't choose Clinton. It's time for him to stop fighting the primaries, too.

And if she isn't his opponent, and the polls are showing she'd help the ticket (as they are), and the delegates and a majority of Dems want a unity ticket (and they do), then she should be on the ticket.

If he's serious about winning this for us. And if he isn't, he should never have run in the first place.

I don't think she'd have drawn out the melodrama about a VP pick this long, and I don't think she'd have hesitated to make it clear she knew a unity ticket was necessary, if she'd been the nominee.

It's going to be really interesting to see if there's any bounce in the polls if anyone except Clinton is picked. Of course, announcing just before the convention will sort of blur any effect, and might make it appear a non-Clinton pick is helping if we get ANY bounce at all from the convention. But if Clinton isn't on the ticket, I'm not sure we will get a bounce from the convention. I wouldn't bet on it, anyway.

Not when the majority of Dems are saying in polls that Clinton should be Obama's running mate.

[RichGirl]

31. I know what you mean.

I will be painfully disappointed if Obama ignores the will of half the democrats. It's a huge number of people that he will be saying "I don't care what you want" to!

[Skwmom]

49. I think it will anger the Clinton supporters further.

Because they will argue if he was going to pick an experienced Washington Insider it should have been Clinton.

This should make for one interesting convention.

[paulk]

52. it doesn't make sense to pick Biden over Clinton

when you look at it that way.

Like you say - what does Biden bring to the ticket that Hillary doesn't? Outside of her 18 million votes, the fact that the majority of Dems want her on the ticket, and polls have shown that she's the only one of the possible candidates that actually helps him win?

Even if one doesn't like Hillary, I thought running for President was about winning...

[Skwmom]

54. I was checking out other boards and they are already posting that

all of the reasons Obama said Hillary should not be President apply to Biden.

I am no Clinton supporter, in fact I no longer have a dog in this fight. I may be wrong but I think this pick is going to be used to foster huge resentment with the women Clinton supporters. Of course, once Rendell, a huge Clinton supporter, suggested Biden I would have definitely started to wonder.....

[paulk]

55. Obama had a real chance to unite the party

to make "unity" more than just another slogan.

Kind of like "change you can believe in" - which seem just empty words now, what with Obama's swing to the right after he became the presumptive nominee.

I've watched his GE campaign with a growing sense of bewilderment.

--------------

[BeyondGeography]

29. Yay...thems my thoughts

Balances out Obama in a number of different ways. A scrappy, older, white Catholic with FP creds. Good pick.

[amandabeech]

48. I agree that he will bring balance, as well as the other factors you cited.

He's also well qualified to lead in the event that something horrible happens. Since 1900, by my count, there have been 6 presidents die in office, one resignation and one who should have passed the office to the VP because of severe illness (Wilson). With that record, and the obvious issues, Obama did not insult the intelligence of the American people by choosing someone like Dan Quayle or Spiro Agnew.

I'm very happy with the pick.

[mvd]

30. I think there's a great chance it's Biden

Local news reports that the secret service has been dispatched to Biden's home to start giving him protection.

[Colobo]

32. Great ticket!

[Sparkly]

33. Some problems, but it could be worse.

And Biden has strengths -- he'll be fun to watch, and the veep debate will be great!

[Abacus]

34. Biden, Clark, Richardson, & Edwards have been my top four

Edwards is out for obvious reasons and I think Richardson and Obama might be a little more change than the US is ready for. I'd be equally pleased with either Clark or Biden, though after the build up, I had kind of hoped for a total unknown just to watch the media stammer for a few days.

Edit: My only concern with Biden is that he seems awfully gaffe prone, but when you're out in front as much as he is, that's bound to happen. I think his gaffes will receive less scrutiny with him in the VP slot.

[Life Long Dem]

35. Respect and experience

Clinton gave Biden a lot of respect during the early debates. So we know that. :shrug:

[Smarmie Doofus]

36. Relief.... if it's true. He's the obvious choice, nt

[Rosa Luxemburg]

37. yes

[wisteria]

39. I think Obama has made a mistake in picking him.

Senator Biden is only good when he is talking himself up and is loyal only to himself.

[paulk]

40. Biden does help with Obama's experience and foreign policy

problems.

But he really doesn't bring much in the way of excitement to the ticket. He's not going to unite the party. He didn't get many people to vote for him in the primaries, I don't think many people who don't support Obama will be persuaded to support Obama because of him.

I don't see Obama getting any bump in the polls from a Biden VP.

It's a pretty uninspired choice, really.

[JI7]

42. Obama is doing opposite of what Kerry did

what you describe is what Kerry did. Edwards was said to bring all the stuff you say Obama needs now.

but what KErry could have really used was someone like Biden.

[paulk]

43. I also thought Edwards was a terrible choice

and said so at the time...

My objection to Biden is that he doesn't bring Obama any votes. I don't see how he helps him there - the best he can do is solidify the support Obama already has.

Obama needs votes. He is well behind where Kerry was in an electoral college matchup at this point.

[JI7]

45. Obama opted out of public funding

so he should be able to do what Kerry did but hold on to it.

and the stuff you said Obama needs are what people said Edwards would bring. and we saw what happened with that. yeah, people can blame Kerry and even if that were true it shows that the VP wont matter anyways.

with Biden it's not really about what he brings in terms of votes as much as allowing those who are already considering Obama to feel more comfortable with voting for him .

[paulk]

51. those who are already comfortable with voting for Obama

are not going to win us this election.

this map scares the hell out of me -

http://electoral-vote.com/

if it comes down to Virginia - we are going to lose. A ten percentage point swing in just 4 years is not realistic.

[Skwmom]

47. I think you are wrong. Biden will cost Obama support.

[Skwmom]

50. Kerry should have picked Clark. It had nothing to do with Edward's experience level and

everything to do with the fact that many viewed him as a phony politician.

[Dinger]

41. Like Someone Else Here Said, So Much For "Change You Can Believe In" (nt)

[Edgewater_Joe]

44. I'm Down With It

It's not Hillary and Bayh (YAY!), but it's not Clark and (apparently) not Dean (Awww...), and I don't like the bankruptcy bill -- but he is an attack dog and he knows a Hell of a lot about foreign policy, and folks like Randi respect him, so he's cool with me.

[Skwmom]

46. It's a terrible pick and reminds me of when Kerry picked Edwards.

1. It kills the "Change you Can Believe In" message.
2. The Republicans can now attack with Obama/Biden - Business as usual and McCain has a shot of grabbing the real change mantel.
3. Obama says he wants someone who will tell him when he is wrong which begs the question: If we face another Iraq situation, will Biden argue for it and convince Obama it is the right thing to do? If I was looking for someone to tell me when I'm right I wouldn't pick a person who was wrong on one of the most crucial questions of our times.
4. He can no longer attack McCain's judgment on going to war.
5. It portrays him as another typical politician, which they have been trying to paint him as for weeks.
6. He can no longer argue he is going to clean up Washington when he picked Mr. MBNA.
7. How is he going to argue we'll make the economy better with a senator that has been in Washington for 36 years.
8. The Washington Insiders love Biden and I think paid consultants have been working the message boards overtime to push for Biden (just like they did for Edwards). But I don't think it will be difficult to make Biden appear very unappealing to the average voter.

The Republicans will be working the message boards 24/7 painting Obama as just another phony politician.

But on the plus side, the corporate media is probably very happy with the pick and the credit card and other corporations are popping their champagne corks b/c Biden being a player signals when push comes to shove that Obama will play too. I'd really like not to believe that. No wonder they say ignorance is bliss. :(

[MilesColtrane]

53. My thoughts?

I think he's a blowhard, lifer politician who's in the corporate pocket and who voted for the war.

But, I guess he's our blowhard, corporate lifer.

[bdamomma]

56. It's official!!!

Biden is a great choice for VP.

[rucky]

57. Nah. It'll never happen. n/t

[alcuno]

58. Feels 500% better than Lieberman

I remember when that announcement was made. Ugh.