Biden

For a while, I was vacillating between whether I wanted Clinton or Obama to win the Democratic nomination. (This speech put that to rest.) The one thing I felt was in Clinton's favor (experience, in my view, being both a plus and a minus in certain ways) was this: She's a pit bull. She would not give up; she would fight dirty, if necessary; she would do whatever was in the bounds of the law to become president. And in the long primary, she proved all of that... much to the chagrin of many. (It should be noted that Dems picked up a ton of new voter registrations during this time, and the long, every-state primary was in large part why. I'll throw no stones her way.)

But Obama/Clinton was never a ticket that sounded right to me. It would open up too many questions, and set reporters to blowing up any possibility of drama.

Meanwhile, months ago, I heard Biden say about Giuliani, that all he needed to form a sentence was "a noun, a verb, and 9/11." It was a hell of a soundbite, and I thought, "That's the guy I want running for vice president."* I guess I wasn't the only one.

Obama still needs to fight back against McCain personally. I subscribe to what Josh Marshall calls (somewhat ashamedly) the "bitch-slap theory of electoral politics" -- essentially that your response to political attacks gives the public an idea of how you'll lead. If you let them continue without answering them (as John Kerry did for too long in 2004), it raises the question, "How can this man defend the country when he can't even defend himself?" And it's been the one crucial test I've been worried about Obama failing. Unlike Kerry, his defenses are eloquent. But eloquent or not, they're too long for a good soundbite.

But if you need bite, Biden's your guy. The man can jab.

Rob

*Naturally, running for Veep and being Veep require two different skill sets. I'm confident Biden has one; I hope he has the other.

Standing Up

Kevin's right.

Whining about Republicans doesn't make Obama or Clinton any more presidential. They should stand tall and fight back; doing so explicitly says why people should vote for them (instead of against the other guy), and the very fact of it demands respect. On the other hand, the message "He's not playing nice" carries the unmistakable odor of wimp. And who wants that?

UPDATE: This, from Edwards, is the smarter move. Still low on specifics, though.

Rob