It's Settled: Obama Picks Biden And The Safe Play For VP

Saturday, August 23, 2008



Well everyone - it's official. Obama has chosen his running mate for Vice President and like many have speculated (especially in the last hours) - it indeed is Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.

While I understand some of the reasons behind it (wooing conservative white middle class catholics, being a counter to McCain's longstanding political presence, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, a former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, etc.) - I just have to wonder if it's still the safe play.

Biden is fine in his own right, but still (and you can fairly say that I just need to let it go) - wouldn't Hillary on the ticket really have made the statement of true change, at the same time reaching out to help unite the Democratic Party?

It could have been this incredible juggernaut, and while my vote is still for Obama these days - I do think he missed a chance to do something even greater than he ever imagined, and I have to believe that if he goes on to lose the race, the decision of not choosing Clinton will definitely become a focus when looking back on this election.

And you still have to wonder about what Biden said back in '07 when talking about Obama, which was "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man." - to which Obama said "I didn't take Sen. Biden's comments personally, but obviously they were historically inaccurate. African-American presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns, and no one would call them inarticulate."

I mean in a way, it does kind of make you go "Ummm...."

But then again, I guess if you had to disqualify every Senator who has said something with racial bias attached to it, there really wouldn't be anyone left to pick from either.

Hmmm.