Senator Biden is a very interesting choice. Jokes about plagiarism notwithstanding, serious CSpan2 watchers will know that Biden is a guy who is a skilled talker. He’s been a powerful figure in Washington for a number of years, and whatever disagreements you may have with his party or policy positions, he is not a mind to be taken lightly.
Darrel, I really think you should reconsider your comments about him being a “goofball.” Certainly if you’ve paid much attention to the campaign and career of John McCain, you’ll find more than enough symptoms of acute “foot in mouth” disease. Say what you will about Biden, he’s more capable with words than McCain, the current occupant of the White House, and is certainly far beyond such stellar VPs as Dan Quayle. You might not like Biden – I’m not particularly fond of him, either – but as fun as dismissive cracks about him may be his is not to be taken lightly.
Which gets me to Starling’s question. It is certainly curious that they’ve lined up this person and it does make one wonder about the experience of Obama. However, Obama voters don’t care about Obama’s accomplishments, his capabilities, or anything else of relevance, so far as I can ascertain. They like Obama and for some reason feel empowered by him. That’s enough for them; I seriously doubt the great majority of them could tell you anything about him or why they like him. That’s been my experience with his believers, at least. Obama is good because he’s Obama.
But what comes to me with Biden is the fact that I do believe that he’s very intelligent and quite competent, and importantly he’s been an extremely powerful figure in the senate for some time. Is he willing to move into a supporting actor role? Will Obama be able to control him?
If so, I think Biden could make a very effective running-mate. He has the intelligence, experience, and quick-wit to be sent on diplomatic missions. He also has the ability to be an attack dog who can readily chew up a large number of conservative talking-heads and politicians on domestic issues. But like all attack dogs, he can cause his masters a lot of misery if he becomes too independent and spontaneous.
One very interesting thing, which I’m sure we will hear about soon is how the gun lobby will react to this. For those of you who don’t remember, it was Senator Biden who strong-armed the 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill through the Senate and House in the summer of 1994. That bill had within it one of the key seeds of the “Republican Revolution” that was voted in that November. The Crime Bill was the vehicle through which the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban was hammered into law.
Voting for the ban destroyed the careers of many democrat politicians. Will the gun lobby be able to re-awaken the energy of that era and direct it against Biden? If so, it could be a devastatingly wrong choice for Obama.
