Who Is Joe Biden?

With the word on the street being, that Delaware’s Senior Senator Joe Biden will be Barack Obama’s Vice Presidential running mate; people are asking, who is Joe Biden? Well as a five year resident of the State of Delaware and an avid political enthusiast, I have been following the more recent events of U.S. Senator Joe Biden’s political career for sometime. I did not support Joe Biden during his unsuccessful Presidential Bid in 2004; not because I didn’t believe he was a qualified presidential candidate, but because during the 2004 presidential primaries the war in Iraq was at the center of the political spectrum and I felt, Wesley Clark, being a former U.S. General and a leader in foreign conflicts was the best choice, at the time. However, Wesley Clark, while being a great leader and a U.S. General, is not a very good politician, but that’s a whole other story.

As I speak with my fellow Delawareans, informing them of the possible Joe Biden VP news, you can tell there is a sense of excitement and pride in knowing that the next Vice President of the United State of America could be from the State of Delaware. However, there is also a sense of confusion, people keep asking me: Why not Hilary? Why not Hilary?

The answer to that question can only be answered by Bill and Hilary Clinton, who have single handily Thelma and Louise’d themselves off the proverbial political cliff.

As you all know, I was once an advocate for an Obama/Clinton ticket, in the May and June time frame. I believed it would be a landslide victory for the Democratic Party. My opinion of Hilary Clinton or the belief that it would be a winning ticket hasn’t changed, but what has changed is the dynamics of the political race, and most of it is due to the antics of Bill and Hilary Clinton (Thelma and Louise). After the heated and emotional Democratic Presidential Primaries of 2008, instead of trying to unify a divided and tense Democratic Party, Bill and Hilary chose to be bitter and remorseful about their defeat. Bill Clinton and his sly comments regarding Barack Obama; Hilary Clinton, and her lackluster support of Obama’s campaign, all added to an already divisive Democratic primary, and then to top it all off, the insistence that Hilary’s nomination be cast at the Democratic Convention. Historically; failed presidential hopefuls have had their names cast during the Convention, however, in this instance, in the aftermath of such an intense political primary, you would have hoped, in the spirit of Democratic unity, she would have taken her name out of the nomination, but I digress. My point is, Bill and Hilary Clinton, have chosen personal political self-interest above Democratic unity, giving Obama no choice but to take her out of the VP race. As much as I like the Clintons, my loyalties, for now, rests with the Democratic Party.

Joe Biden.

Who is this Senior U.S. Senator from the second smallest State in the Nation? Joe Biden has 36 years of political experience, and is currently the chairman of the U.S. Foreign Relations Committee. Joe Biden can certainly counter any claim John McCain would have of Barack Obama’s inexperience. Joe Biden is also a political attack dog, with the ferocity of a Dick Cheney, and the Charm and familiarity of a George W. Bush. Joe Biden is a wise and safe VP choice when pinned against the other VP hopefuls on Obama’s short list. Outside of a few political gaffes, he is overwhelmingly the best and most knowledgeable politician on the VP short list. And not to mention a powerful enough political player to squash any super delegates thoughts of making a circus of this years Democratic Convention by changing their last minute votes to Hilary instead of Obama at the Convention.

The other members on the short list such as Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has only been Governor for 3 years and would do nothing to shore up voter’s concerns regarding Obama’s inexperience. Governor Kaine would certainly give Obama a chance at winning Virginia but would hurt him in other States. Then there’s Senator Evan Buyh of Indiana, who would definitely help to win the State of Indiana and the electoral votes that come along with it; however, Senator Buyh isn’t the attack dog that Joe Biden is, and hasn’t done anything to demonstrate he could be. And after seeing the disaster of the Cheney/Edwards debates, we all know the importance of being a political attack dog when you’re a VP.

So as a Delaware transplant, I say, GOOD LUCK JOE! We’re rootin’ for you.

Barack Obama Has Made Mistakes

Barack Obama and his champagne have made mistakes.

This whole texting my VP choice sounds like some antiquated second season American Idol stunt. But I must admit I have had more then a few people ask me if I received a text today. I am not even sure I signed up to receive a text, but the Obama political machine is so well oiled and efficiently ran, forget my cell phone, they’ll probably text message my landline while there at it, but I digress.

As well oiled as Barack Obama’s campaigned maybe, I am of the opinion that mistakes were made. And I have a couple U.S. election polls to back my assessment. I think this whole wait until two days before the convention to announce my VP is a mistake, Barack Obama since the end of the Democratic Primaries has been out spent in TV and radio ads by John McCain and the deep pockets of the Republican National Committee two to one. John McCain and the Republican’s spin machine have been working overtime to damage Obama presidential credibility. It has become so absurd that if you watch FOX News, you’d think that John Edward’s elicit affair with his former campaign staffer was Barack Obama’s fault. And Obama has done little, until recently, to counter any of this. And Michelle Obama, an invaluable asset to his Presidential bid in my opinion, is nowhere to be found. Week after week, ever since Obama has come back from his international tour, he’s been loosing traction and media attention, which is crucial.

It wouldn’t be fair to blame Obama and his Campaign completely for the reduced media attention, the Olympic Games, as exciting as they have been, have taken attention away from the political champagnes. But with that said, mistakes were made. One big mistake in my opinion is waiting until the last minute to announce his VP decision. Despite what many people may think, Barack Obama is still a media darling, and hasn’t been using his media capital enough to grab some crucial free press to combat John McCain and the deep pockets of the Republican spin machine.

Take this whole text my VP choice, stunt, how much media coverage is it really going to get, if he announces his VP on Friday afternoon, or worse yet on Saturday, it may get two days of coverage and then the Convention begins, that in my opinion is a mistake.

If Barack Obama had announced his VP decision the Monday before the convention; him and his new VP would have had an entire week dominating the media coverage and then dominating it again next week during the Convention, it would have been in all, two whole weeks of crucial and valuable air time. It was a strategic mistake not to do that.

Fine, Obama wants to wait until after the convention to begin spending his campaign war chest, so he can go head to head with McCain and the Republicans, I can understand that. But in the meantime, use the two greatest assets you got going for you, which is the media’s love affair with Barack Obama, and second, Michelle Obama, where the hell is she?

R.I.P Bernie Mac