Biden is a dominant personality....

[Wetzelbill]

He's highly intelligent, blunt, forceful and vastly experienced.

It speaks volumes about Obama that he's secure enough to pick somebody like Biden as a VP. Biden is a guy who could very well be president or a cabinet member and he has, of course, had those aspirations. That Obama isn't threatened by that is interesting.

I think he looked at the final 3 on his shortlist, Biden, Bayh and Kaine and went with the best guy, rather than a strategic pick to win a certain state, or the safe boring pick who wouldn't rock the boat too much or outshine Obama in any manner. He went with another alpha male, a former opponent, his own chairman on a committe and someone with more credentials over all than he has.

I know Ron Fournier and others felt like picking Biden shows insecurity, but I don't see how. He brings in a guy who shores up a few things and adds experience to the table. But Biden is a different cat too. He's been around a long time, but he's not the "ultimate insider." He doesn't live in DC, he rides a train to work every single day. He's not a millionaire and he comes from a working class background. He may be a long time member of the senate, but Joe Biden fought for everything he's gotten, nothing was handed to him ever. Just like with Obama.

I'd say Obama showed courage with this pick. Biden may seem like a safe choice, but he already comes with a little baggage, and you know the charge that knocked him out of his '88 campaign will come up. You know that Biden always runs the risk of saying something a little wild on the campaign trail. And he doesn't invite the media to barbecues, so they won't cover for a minor Biden mistake like they cover for major McCain mistakes. And in picking Biden, he didn't placate anybody calling for Hillary or another Clinton friend to be placed on the ticket as reconcilation. He runs the risk of pissing off women and Clinton supporters because of this choice too. Granted, I don't personally buy the media theme that there is such a huge rift between the Clintons and Obama or women and Obama, but he could have played it safe and picked someone like HRC or Sebelius when he didn't really want to. By contrast, watch McCain pick Romney - probably - whose guts he hates, simply because he blindly wants to get elected. McCain even has shamelessly floated out General Petraeus as a potential VP. Now THAT is insecurity.

But I think Obama did well here. Biden is a good choice, and a courageous one.

[Unsane]

1. Ron Fournier is a RW shill.

[Wetzelbill]

13. that was just a stupid column

how ridiculous was that?

[Pirate Smile]

31. Fellow tool David Gregory decided to go along with Fournier calling it a ticket based on Fear.

Idiots.

Mindblowingly obtuse and clueless.

I can't believe that AP has decided to completely blow their credibility on that guy.

Here is a Daily Kos Action Diary to help deal with AP.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/23/142738/048/973/573650

[Gloria]

2. Who else wanted to be VP with him??

Bill Richardson, from what I can tell.

Either way, no go for me.

[Wetzelbill]

6. please, just about anybody would take it

Including Hillary.

[KAZ]

35. Must be something in the water down there in NM.

CAT scan might be in order.

[FrenchieCat]

3. Hey...that's what I was thinking. Everything you wrote.

"Word" is in order!

[Wetzelbill]

12. Great minds think...

well you know. :)

[applegrove]

4. Was it really in 1988 that Biden did the plagarism thing? I keep thinking it was

before the 2000 election like 1998. Am I missing a decade? No surprise really.

[frogcycle]

8. It was in 1988 and it was not plagiarism

He was unfairly accused of plagiarism. He used lines much like someone else's because they happened also to apply to him. He used them eight times, and in seven, he credited the other guy. One time he omitted saying "in the words of..." in his stump speech.

It was fucking nothing.

[Wetzelbill]

19. Yes I should have answered it better

when I replied. But this is something that is so overplayed. Especially when you look at how McCain has so egregiously plagiarized wikipedia and probably Solzhenitsyn.

[frogcycle]

25. and the food channel website!

:rofl:

[Wetzelbill]

9. yeah 1988

I was 13 years old. I remember it too. Hell to me these last 18 years have just flew by. I should still be a freshman in high school by my calculations, lol.

[Debi]

17. Get your facts straight and then come back and attempt to smear our next VP n/t

[applegrove]

24. Didn't mean to smear. I really like Biden. But he better have a good

explanation. I saw him being interviewed on ABC I think and he took full responsibility for the mistake. I just wanted to get my decades right.

[Debi]

40. And DU was the only place you could find this information.

Oh, okay! :eyes:

[applegrove]

44. I just saw him being interviewed on David Letterman and again he

said it was his mistake. I think we should be ready for all criticism because we know the GOP will stop at nothing. Sorry if it is such a sore point for you. I think Biden is great and human. And I think he'll make a kick ass candidate for VP and an even better VP.

[frogcycle]

5. Obama demonstrated CONFIDENCE

He knows that he doesn't know everything, that he needs the absolute A-Team, and he has the self-confidence and leadership ability to assemble that team without worrying about being one-upped.

Let's face it - disregarding Joe's foreign policy credentials, today he showed he has other attributes Obama is short on. No criticism of Obama, but he doesn't "connect" as readily to a lot of people. He stirs up the large crowds, and a lot of people love him, but others are skeptical. And he doesn't go for the jugular as well. It just isn't natural to him. But I bet when Obama sat there sipping his bottled water and watching Joe, he didn't feel the least bit threatened. I bet he was thinking "go get 'em, Joe!"

As Joe said, Obama is a pragmatist. To bring about the change he envisions, he first has to win. Joe will help that, and is certainly not going to fight the changes.

There is no downside!

[Wetzelbill]

21. exactly right

It takes a weak leader to pick people who aren't capable, or will not, challenge them intellectually and as a personality. Look at the yes men shills around Bush. You want to tell me Gonzo and some of those clowns ever did more than kiss Bush's idiot ass ever? Look where that got us.

[flamingdem]

28. As usual the media got it backwards nt

[Naturyl]

38. You're absolutely right.

Obama has my full support but he personally has never "connected" with me the way Joe Biden does. I think a lot of other Americans feel the way I do as well.

And if anybody suggests this is about race... forget that. It's not. It's about the "regular Joe" appeal that Obama, for all his strengths, just doesn't deliver.

[rucky]

7. they both know how to work with people

and they'll work well together. Obama pushing policy and Biden twisting arms in Congress.

[Wetzelbill]

10. yes, well put

They complement each other very well.

[frogcycle]

15. Biden will just OWN congress!

They like and respect him on both sides. And none of them can hold their own in an argument with him, on any topic.

[goodgd_yall]

11. All good points

I hadn't thought enough about this to think of the confidence and security Obama has shown by picking a big personality, but you're absolutely correct.

[Wetzelbill]

16. well yes, by contrast, look at GOP picks in the past

George H.W. Bush picked Dan Quayle, President Cheney picked W.... ok.. I don't even know where I'm going with this. :)

[saltpoint]

14. Excellent analysis. Obama's choice of Biden shows

confidence and sure-footedness, not weakness, as Fournier claims. Besides, Ron Fournier has sex with pastry.

Your point on McCain floating Petreaus' name as a gauge of McCain's insecurity -- that is terra firma & top-drawer. They ain't payin' you enough, wetzelbill.

Great post.

[Wetzelbill]

18. Nobody's paying me anything and that might still be too much

:)

But, yeah, the Petraeus thing, that is just shameful to do that. Blatant flag waving type of stuff. McCain might be a heroic POW, and he'll be the first to tell you that over and over and over, but he's at heart an intellectually lazy man who lacks substance.

[saltpoint]

20. That should merit its own post -- what kind of man is drawn to

the image of himself as a war hero but can't tell the press how many houses he owns. He does lack substance and he is terribly lazy. Not the kind of traits that gets somebody past the preliminary interview for most jobs.

There's also his confession about the economy and he told the press he really doesn't now much about the economy.

Not that the economy is important or anything.

In Obama's choice of Biden, voters will see a superior elder statesman as vice president to the presidential offering of the Republicans.

[DemReadingDU]

32. My spouse has said for weeks, that McCain will pick Petraeus for his VP

It will be interesting who McCain decides for VP

:shrug:

[dansolo]

36. Patraeus would have to resign first

Would he be the only military commander in history to resign voluntarily in the middle of fighting a war in order to run for office? Wouldn't that look really bad?

[Wetzelbill]

41. I don't know about the history of that

But it certainly wouldn't look good. I think Petraeus is a more stand up guy than that. And also enough of a political animal to know that in this type of year McCain is still a long shot at best. Petraeus seems to have political ambitions, and I doubt he'd waste a shot on being McCain's second fiddle.

[Overseas]

22. I agree that Biden is a courageous, confident choice.

Moving the US agenda under a new Obama administration forward around the world and pushing new ideas through a stodgy congress and angry Republican minority will be areas that Biden can make great contributions.

[Wetzelbill]

23. Biden is just enough of both an experienced politician and a rebel

to where he fits well with Obama's message as a change agent, but he also adds his own credentials to the mix and they shore up some of Obama's perceived shortcomings.

[Virginia Dare]

26. Obama made it clear he didn't want a "yes" man..

he wanted somebody he could spar with. Agreed, he and Joe are just a great team. I didn't see it until today, it's magic.

[flamingdem]

That's true, I'm sure they'll tangle sometimes, I'm looking forward to seeing this unfold nt

[CitizenPatriot]

27. fournier now = corsi

both are total morans and the paper their words are printed on is good for nothing except your next camping trip.

so add ruining the environment by senselessly killing trees to print rubbish on to their list of crimes.

Biden is a GREAT pick -- it shows brilliance on Obama's part, a shrewd assessment of the situation and a quick, accurate and quite deadly solution. Me likes.

:bounce:

p.s. I already wrote the AP and Fournier today just to let them know that they now have zero journalistic integrity and are OFFICIALLY a part of the problem. propagandizers. Something they will be hugely embarrassed by when they realize how they fed the regime that brought down the American Government. Good job, boys. Way to go out on a limb, you gutless wonders!

[Erin Elizabeth]

29. If anyone has the confidence to put Biden at the number two

slot, it's Obama. Agreed.

[dave29]

30. I think Obama picked Biden because of those vetted, he is best

prepared to be President. He does help in some areas where Obama is "perceived" as somewhat weak. However, ultimately, this was about filling Obama's shoes, God forbid.

And that is the exact right reasoning for a good VP pick.

[Cha]

33. ron fournier gets paid to write negative shit about Obama

and if he didn't have his a$$ up his head would know Obama doesn't need anyone else to make him feel secure. He wants to do what's best for the job.

[Honeycombe8]

34. Yep, you got it. He wants the benefit of Biden's knowledge & other positives...

he wants someone who will talk back to him & say it like it is. That's Biden. A very secure Obama.

(But then so was Bush when he chose Cheney?)

[Wetzelbill]

42. Cheney chose himself, lol

And Poppy and Jim Baker put Cheney in charge of the committee to chose himself.

[Naturyl]

37. Yeah, it shows the opposite of insecurity.

Quite frankly, if you are insecure, you don't choose the strongest guy in the room as your second.

To use a remarkably geeky analogy, could Picard have chosen Riker as first officer if here were insecure?

[Wetzelbill]

43. wow, I bow down to your nerdiness

That was at once impressive and absolutely tragic. :)

[Naturyl]

45. I'm not actually that nerdy, I promise.

Just couldn't think of anything else, lol.

And come on, Picard does rule. :)

[Wetzelbill]

46. haha

Well I will give you Picard's ruliness. If that is even a word.

[opihimoimoi]

39. I wonder what his MBTI is

Prolly way up there

[AtomicKitten]

47. Obama had the confidence to exercise good judgment in this most important decision.

Media Heathers be damned.