Saturday, August 23, 2008

The Long-awaited Choice

So he decided to pair up with Biden. Hmm... I probably wouldn't have thought about Biden. But hey, when you are viewed as lacking experience and soft on foreign policy perhaps it is best to pick a running mate that at 65 has spent more than half his life in the Senate, almost every moment of that time in the Foreign Relations Committee.

Oh, and hey did you hear that Obama let his supporters know about the V.P. choice by SMS... I hear that McCain is going to use the telegraph. My guess: Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania... the former Terror Czar.

Biden has run for President twice, without much success. He seems to be a dedicated family man; two sons survived a car crash which killed their mother and a sister in 1972, not long after winning his first Senate seat. His second marriage five years later gave the proud parents a daughter. Interestingly enough one of the sons from his earlier marriage, Beau Biden, is to be deployed to Iraq later this year with the Delaware National Guard. He won't hold a gun as he's a Captain in the Judge Advocate General's Office. When he's not working in the military he's Attorney General of the State of Delaware.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... The most important people in this election are the Vice Presidents. Really I don't think that either candidate has much chance of finishing a full term. McCain has the whole age thing working against him... and uh how to say this nicely... I think that a black man serving as President of the U.S. won't go over so well with lots of radical groups.

More interesting things about Biden:
  • had a bit of a health scare in 1988 when he suffered two brain aneurysms.
  • on the Committee of the Judiciary... presided over two really nasty U.S. Supreme Court confirmations... Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas
  • often seen as a man of the people, more down to earth than most even though he is probably one of the wealthiest Senators currently serving
  • had a bit of trouble with not crediting the original author during a speech in the late 80's
  • average Joe speaking style... heh heh... actually is a bit of a blowhard, not really knowing when to shut up
  • he's Catholic... I wonder how many Catholic V.P.'s we've had?
  • OF COURSE after 9/11 he was right there with Bush and his administration's ideas on Afghanistan and Iraq... OF COURSE later he came out with the idea that it wasn't the right thing to do... later he expressed concern that there weren't enough soldiers on the ground in either country to get the job done, and has been quite critical about the Bush Administration's approach the the entire thing
  • check out his political positions
Oh, hey I would love to hear from people... Who do you think McCain will pick for that all-important V.P. post?

Check out a commercial showing what McCain's campaign has to say about Biden:

4 comments:

cliff1976 said...

Really I don't think that either candidate has much chance of finishing a full term. McCain has the whole age thing working against him... and uh how to say this nicely... I think that a black man serving as President of the U.S. won't go over so well with lots of radical groups.

Wow, Snooker, that's so much more pessimistic than I would have expected from you. I guess I just haven't thought about the race thing in a while.

I might have my own tough time saying things "nicely" here, but I'm giving it a shot anyway. I hope the point comes through.

- Obama was not rioting in Detroit in 1967, helping to cause the White Flight from which the city has still not yet recovered.

- Obama probably doesn't abuse the welfare system.

- Obama seems unlikely sell drugs to white kids after school.

- Obama isn't lazy.

- Obama doesn't wake up from a booze haze, reaching for his pimp cane, peeling Queen Bee's girls off of him in layers.

- Obama doesn't look to me like he could dance to save his life (I'm right there with him).

- Obama might like chicken, but I bet he's had more spam than most of us and simultaneously less pork than on average.

In short, this is not your typical African-American. But none of that matters to a nut with a scope on his rifle, right?

The truly sad thing will be when

- a worthy candidate rises to the occasion,

- the party doubts that candidate's electability, and

- and nominates someone behind whom they're sure they can get the general public to rally.

The Democrats had a happy dilemma this time around.

Treff said...

To the original question- McCain & Romney seem unlikely right now due to Romney probably eating more slightly bitter lettuce called arugula (he was a venture capitalist and is worth a quarter of a billion dollars)

So I am going with McCain-Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. He is in a swing state, he is not ridiculous wealthy, well-spoken in front of a camera and well shucks...who wouldn't love a guy from a land with 10,000 lakes?

Unknown said...

I, too, am worried about Obama's safety. It's not just our racist history as a country but our history of killing dynamic leaders (The Kennedys, MLK) .

Diane Mandy said...

I also think it will be Pawlenty because McCain's top choices (as reported by media) are pro-choice and a no-go with many Republicans.

I wasn't excited about the pick, but I hope the Biden pick helps Obama's chances because it doesn't look good right now. And like you. I worry about Obama's safety.