Apparently, I'm not the only one nonplussed...

[misanthrope]

...by Obama's VP pick.

No customary bump

If McCain wins an election that by any objective standard the Republicans should lose in a landslide, I don't know how to draw a rosy picture for the Democratic party.

Obama's campaign is getting away from what won him the nomination in the first place. His campaign got a LOT of people (on both sides of the aisle) excited that he really was a "different" politician. So what does he do? Pick perhaps THE ultimate Washington insider as his running mate. In a vacuum, Biden is probably a decent pick, but in the context of his campaign to date, it contradicts everything he's said and done to this point.

[lapfog_1]

1. Biden was my first choice for President.

He will make a great Vice President to President Obama.

So, what exactly are your "concerns" now?

[DangerDave921]

18. I liked Biden too

as presidential choice. As VP, it makes sense from a purely political agenda of trying to bolster the two big hits on Obama -- lack of experience and foreign policy. But from the perspective of a movement (change, unity, etc.) it is lacking. First thing I thought was: an old white guy with gray hair who's been in the Senate for 30 years. Now who does that sound like?

[lapfog_1]

24. Ted Kennedy??? - n/t

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Why does everyone here...

Seem to think that Gallup is the ne plus ultra, the alpha and omega of polling organizations? Every other polling org, save one, has Obama clearly ahead. What does that make Gallup? An outlier? And in statistical analysis, you toss out the outlier.

[ProfessorGAC]

29. One Nit To Pick

You don't throw out any outliers unless you can explain why it's atypical and the reason for that is logical.

Otherwise you have to live with the outliers.
The Professor

[onethatcares]

3. maybe he should have picked Fred Thompson or Rudi

sheesh, grab the damn ball and run with it, will ya?

[misanthrope]

5. Well, if we're going to run with it, how 'bout handing off...

...to a top notch tailback and not someone who's been warming the bench for three decades.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. Like who?

As if I couldn't guess...

[misanthrope]

12. Take a stab then...I'm genuinely curious**nm

**

[onethatcares]

23. I'll take that stab at it,

I would have preferred Richardson, but I couldn't see Hillary getting the nod because the rw hatemachine was warmed up to show her every which way to sunday as everything they could not stand, and they would have used her husbands administration as a ratchet. It would have been like having the gaudoldpansies picking our VP so they could shoot arrows at her, no matter how strong she is.

Even I understand the politics of hate and I'm not a college educated guy. The Clintons have a very large pool of hate to draw from when it comes to the rw and the fundies.

[misanthrope]

25. You didn't tell me who I wanted as VP**nm

**

[DJ13]

4. Get over it, Biden was the best choice

Obama already has the liberal wing sewn up, Biden is also a diehard liberal, but he has an ability to speak to the blue collar independent workers that Obama cant match.

He also has an edge in dealing with the right wing that even Hillary cannot beat.

[SammyWinstonJack]

22. "Get over it" I can't express how much I HATE that phrase!

Oh wait, yes I can! :banghead:

[benEzra]

28. The blue collar independents are what worry me...

if Biden sticks with some of the positions he's held in the past, on gun bans and whatnot.

Blue collar workers in swing states LIKE their guns (as Gore found out the hard way in '00), so the ban-more-nonhunting-guns thing will have to go. Blue collar workers are also bearing the brunt of the usury law, I suspect, though I don't know how much of an issue that will be since the repubs are also in bed with the big banks.

All in all, Biden could do very well, or very poorly.

[DefenseLawyer]

6. So it would be fair to say you are "concerned"? n/t

[DCKit]

19. Bwahahahahahaha!!!

Joe Biden balances the ticket very nicely. My only "concerns" are:

1) Where the hell they're going to find anyone capable/qualified of filling his shoes in the Senate?
2) Who is as qualified to be SoS?
3) Will he assume the power Cheney appropriated and use it to undo, rectify and prosecute the evil perpetrated on the U.S.?
4) Does he regret pandering to the banks that are (still) ruining the lives of so many?
5) How long before we can dump the DLC and Blue Dogs and get back to being Democrats?

[wvbygod]

32. I believe "nonplussed" was the word used

Is your eye doctor "concerned"?

[DefenseLawyer]

33. Quack quack n/t

[Indenturedebtor]

7. No it doesn't. Veeps can be powerful influence tools

Biden knows how to get shit done. He's not there to set policy, he'll be there to help make it happen. He knows how to pull the strings in Washington. Very good choice IMO.

[Ian David]

8. I'm nonpareiled. n/t

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. Got any...

Of those Godiva Lime Jellies? Or Raspberry? ;-)

[ColbertWatcher]

11. So, the GOP-controlled media doesn't report on the Dem VP pick?

I'm not surprised.

[spanone]

13. they haven't given obama a 'bump' for anything. it's rigged. it's a great ticket imo

[Demeter]

14. With Biden, Obama Satisfies AIPAC and the Corporate Bosses

and the DLC is mostly pacified, except for the PUMAs. It could have been worse, I suppose. But damn, it could have been so much better!

[misanthrope]

15. My sentiments exactly**nm

**

[aikoaiko]

16. You're not the only one, but I'm still confident he can campaign his way to a victory

even though he made a mediocre VP pick.

I too had hoped for someone more inspirational or in concert with hope and change and not someone in bed with credit card companies and who is anti-gun.

[misanthrope]

17. You forget about the drug warrior status...

...I consider the War on Drugs to be as egregious an assault on American civil liberties as the Patriot Act, maybe even worse because of its duration despite evidence of its actual results.

[SoCalDem]

20. Had Hillary dropped out when she lost (back in Feb)

he would have not had the struggles at the end, and had doubt piled up on him , by the press.. he would have been able to make nominal visits to those last states, would have won handily, but with fewer votes probably..

He would have exited the "primary campaign mode" in late march, and would have had FOUR MONTHS to choose a running mate.. The list would have been very different probably.. The major doubts/failings/shortcomings/etc were magnified by "you know who", and once she reluctantly and dramatically left the stage, the buzz was all about her and how she was feeling and would she be chosen.. I think he wanted to choose a woman, but how could he...without it being her..

[Postman]

21. Here. You'll go from "nonplussed" to "pissed off"

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/8/25/a_debate_on_sen_joe_bidens

[Pastiche423]

26. Yep, Obama is already showing how much he'll bring change

An older, white guy that has been an establisment dem for three decades for his veep!

Oops. Not much change there, eh?

[Pastiche423]

27. Yep, Obama is already showing how much he'll bring change

An older, white guy that has been an establishment dem for three decades for his veep!

Oops. Not much change there, eh?

[Jennicut]

30. Biden was always my pick for VP. I am happy with him.

Who says you can't be in government and be about change? I think he is feisty and will really give it to the Rethugs.

[Avalux]

31. That's too bad. Biden is a perfect pic; they're both populists.

Biden will help Obama bring the government back to us - THE PEOPLE.

If you can't see that, I don't know what else to tell you.