From politico: 5 things the Biden pick says about Obama

[Tigermike 3,426]

5 things Biden pick says about Obama

By JIM VANDEHEI & MIKE ALLEN | 8/23/08 4:26 PM EST

It is easy to overstate the meaning of vice presidential picks. After all, rarely does the selection of a running mate significantly tilt the outcome of an election. But it does provide a unique window into the presidential nominee's decision-making instincts and his strategy for winning in the fall.

Here are five things the selection of Joe Biden tells us about Barack Obama:

1. He's fixing for a fight. Obama has been knocked for being too soft and too enthralled with rhetorical fancy. But the past few weeks provided a glimpse of his tough-guy Chicago side. He went negative the moment his campaign felt wobbly. Biden is a brawler — and the Obama camp is eager to unleash him. (Obama has been criticized as being slow to react to attacks. As Karl Rove said, he now has an attack dog at his side. However, if anyone has observed Joe Biden for any length of time, Biden has a penchant for going too far and saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. So in that regard, he may end up being a mixed blessing at best.)

2. He's a lot more conventional than advertised. Obama has promised a different and more consensus-oriented brand of politics but more often than not has done what most politicians do: switched positions to soothe voters, dodged the unpredictability of town hall meetings and gone for the jugular when he sees it. The Biden pick — the most important choice Obama has made to date in his public career — was safe and traditional. Two male career politicians from the Senate is hardly transformational. (In terms of politics, that's been obvious to those of us undazzled by the hype for some time. He's a product of Chicago politics and just claiming to be a "new politician" interested in pursuing "new politics" has little or no bearing on reality. In reality, he's as much an old time pol as is Joe Biden - just not as experienced.)

3. He’s insecure about security. The Georgia-Russia crisis amplified Obama's shortcomings on national security — both his own experience and the perceptions of voters about his own readiness for command. McCain is making that his calling card, and polls show it's working. Biden offers Obama instant help: He knows this stuff and is more than willing to flaunt it.

(Well of course he is. And he should be. He's said things that have underscored both his inexperience and naivety concerning foreign policy and national security. Biden will help that somewhat, but first has to admit he was all for the war and its pursuit. He also has to explain away his Iraqi partition plan - and he has to explain that to the Democrat anti-war base. Again, Biden is a mixed blessing.)

4. He’s more worried about Lunchbox Joe than Bubba. Obama was not persuaded by arguments that Democrats for the past 60 years have won the presidency only when they've had a Southerner on the ticket. He seems confident he can put a few states in the Old Confederacy in play by stoking African-American turnout. Perhaps. But he also is calculating that his more urgent concern is working-class whites, especially those in the industrial Midwest. Hillary Rodham Clinton clobbered him in these areas — and white men remain very skeptical of him, if you believe the polls (and his people do). At the public unveiling of the ticket Saturday at Springfield, Ill., Obama called Biden a “scrappy kid from Scranton.” (This one alludes to Obama being worried about the Clintons. I just don't see that. Again his inexperience and arrogance betray him. He thinks he's above the Clintons and doesn't have to worry about them. I think that is a very naive tactical mistake. I also think Hillary as VP would have absolutely ensured a Democratic victory in November. This has a lot to do with union backing. But rank and file union members are not warming up to Obama.)

5. He doesn't hold a grudge — or at least he doesn't let it get in the way. Biden, who pulled out of the Democratic race after finishing fifth in Iowa, raised serious questions about Obama’s readiness to handle national security in the primaries. Biden said things like this a year ago: “If the Democrats think we're going to be able to nominate someone who can win without that person being able to [bring to the] table unimpeachable credentials on national security and foreign policy, I think we're making a tragic mistake.” That criticism hurt then because it echoed the precise case made by Clinton in the nomination contest. It’s hurting now because Republicans are using Biden’s words against Obama in a new ad. Now Obama has to show he can get over the Clinton grudge. (This speaks to Biden's attacks on him while a presidential candidate himself. More explaining away for Biden to do. Personally I think he chose Biden because he was the one, outside of Hillary, who could do him the most good. The fact that Biden was the pick tells you how slim that field was.)

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12751.html

I'll add another

He's on the defensive.

To me Biden was a very defensive pick. Obama needs shoring up in the foreign policy/national defense area and he and his campaign know that. But if they think they can now pass off questions in that area by saying "Joe will do it", they can forget that. As Pat Dye would say, "That dog won't hunt."

[Justin5 20]

Wouldn't #1 on that list say he was on the offensive, not defensive???

[au2004ece 30]

Wouldn't #1 on that list say he was on the offensive, not defensive???

No, Obama is on the defensive because in the last few weeks many Americans have begin to see him as the one-hit wonder that many of us in the non-Obama wing of America saw in the primaries. The closing of the gap in the polls is evidence of this. He has to defend himself from the charges that he isn't up to the job and try not to give anymore evidence that proves that fact.

[Justin5 20]

Wouldn't #1 on that list say he was on the offensive, not defensive???

No, Obama is on the defensive because in the last few weeks many Americans have begin to see him as the one-hit wonder that many of us in the non-Obama wing of America saw in the primaries. The closing of the gap in the polls is evidence of this. He has to defend himself from the charges that he isn't up to the job and try not to give anymore evidence that proves that fact.

Wrong. Read the topic.

[au2004ece 30]

Wouldn't #1 on that list say he was on the offensive, not defensive???

No, Obama is on the defensive because in the last few weeks many Americans have begin to see him as the one-hit wonder that many of us in the non-Obama wing of America saw in the primaries. The closing of the gap in the polls is evidence of this. He has to defend himself from the charges that he isn't up to the job and try not to give anymore evidence that proves that fact.

Wrong. Read the topic.

I did, I didn't understand your post. I think I get it now.

It seemed as though you were talking about a typo where the word "offensive" should be replaced with "defensive".

You should word your posts better. You should have said this: "with number 1 stating that Biden will be the attack dog, isn't the author saying that the selection of Biden is an attempt to go on the offensive rather than the defensive?"