I'm almost afraid to write this so close to the actual unveiling of Barack Obama's VP selection. Nonetheless, I think that the MSM has locked on so tight to the arguments supporting Biden that no one seems to be talking about the downsides. Here goes:

The biggest argument in favor of Sen. Biden is his vast foreign policy experience. The assumption is that Biden can “shore up” the gap between Obama and McCain. This assumption is just plain wrong. People who think that Obama needs a babysitter to be Commander-in-Chief won't vote for him under any circumstances. Moreover, selecting Biden would be an admission by the Obama camp that there is a foreign policy / experience gap. The McCain folks will seize on that meme with a vice-like grip (no pun intended). The real counter to this is to go highly negative on the Bush / McCain foreign policy disaster of the past 8 years. With only two months till the election, Obama may won't be able to pull his foreign policy numbers up, but he can pull the other guy's down.

Put another way, people who are looking for experience will vote for McCain. Period. It doesn't matter who Obama puts on the ticket. The bet that has carried Obama this far is that we are in a “change” election year. It's been our contention here at Eyes On Obama that Obama should play identity politics and pick a woman, either Hillary Clinton or Kathleen Sebelius, and try and run up his numbers among women. But regardless of the selection, it seems better to double down on change, because mixing messages is a recipe for disaster.

To be fair, there are arguments in favor of Joe Biden that have nothing to do with his foreign policy experience. He's a good speaker, an excellent debater and an all around charming guy. He's Catholic and hails from the blue collar bastion of Scranton, Pennsylvania. It has been mentioned that his oldest son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, will be deploying to Iraq this fall. Most importantly though, he is an attack dog extraordinaire. That is one talent that Biden really can rub off on the ticket.

If Obama thinks that Biden is the best choice, so be it. But the worst thing that the Obama Campaign can do is let the other side, or the media, get into their heads and affect their decision making.

 

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I sure hope his VP choice is NOT Joe Biden!  He does  NOT represent "CHANGE!"

P.S. Michael Moore thinks it should be Caroline Kennedy? what are your thoughts on that?

Caroline Kennedy would make I'm sure a great storyline but I doubt it. She has no military or diplomatic experience and I'm sure she has no interest in being Sen. Obama running mate. I'd be a very weak ticket anyway.

Here's Michael Moore's open letter to Caroline Kennedy for those who haven't read it yet:

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
"Caroline: Pull a Cheney!" An Open Letter to Caroline Kennedy (head of the Obama VP search team) from Michael Moore

Dear Caroline,

We've never met, so I hope you don't find this letter too presumptuous or inappropriate. As its contents involve the public's business, I am sending this to you via the public on the Internet. I knew your brother John. He was a great guy, and I know he would've had a ball during this thrilling and historic election year. We all miss him dearly.

Barack Obama selected you to head up his search for a vice presidential candidate. It appears we may be just days (hours?) away from learning who that choice will be.

The media is reporting that Senator Obama has narrowed his alternatives to three men: Joe Biden, Evan Bayh and Tim Kaine. They're all decent fellows, but they are far from the core of what the Obama campaign has been about: Change. Real change. Out with the old. And don't invade countries that pose no threat to us.

Senators Biden and Bayh voted for that invasion and that war, the war Barack ran against, the war Barack reminded us was the big difference between him and Senator Clinton because she voted for the war and he spoke out against it while running for Senate (a brave and bold thing to do back in 2002).

For Obama to place either of these senators on the ticket would be a huge blow to the millions that chose him in the primaries over Hillary. He will undercut one of the strongest advantages he has over the Hundred-Year War senator, Mr. McCain. By anointing a VP who did what McCain did in throwing us into this war, Mr. Obama will lose the moral high ground in the debates.

As for Governor Kaine of Virginia, his big problem is, well, Obama's big problem -- who is he? The toughest thing Barack has had to overcome -- and it will continue to be his biggest obstacle -- is that too many of the voters simply don't know him well enough to vote for him. The fact that Obama is new to the scene is both one of his most attractive qualities AND his biggest drawback. Too many Americans, who on the surface seem to like Barack Obama, just don't feel comfortable voting for someone who hasn't been on the national scene very long. It's a comfort level thing, and it may be just what keeps Obama from winning in November ("I'd rather vote for the devil I know than the devil I don't know").

What Obama needs is a vice presidential candidate who is NOT a professional politician, but someone who is well-known and beloved by people across the political spectrum; someone who, like Obama, spoke out against the war; someone who has a good and generous heart, who will be cheered by the rest of the world; someone whom we've known and loved and admired all our lives and who has dedicated her life to public service and to the greater good for all.

That person, Caroline, is you.

I cannot think of a more winning ticket than one that reads: "OBAMA-KENNEDY."

Caroline, I know that nominating yourself is the furthest idea from your mind and not consistent with who you are, but there would be some poetic justice to such an action. Just think, eight years after the last head of a vice presidential search team looked far and wide for a VP -- and then picked himself (a move topped only by his hubris to then lead the country to near ruin while in office) -- along comes Caroline Kennedy to return the favor with far different results, a vice president who helps restore America to its goodness and greatness.

Caroline, you are one of the most beloved and respected women in this country, and you have been so admired throughout your life. You chose a life outside of politics, to work for charities and schools, to write and lecture, to raise a wonderful family. But you did not choose to lead a private life. You have traveled the world and met with its leaders, giving you much experience on the world stage, a stage you have been on since you were a little girl.

The nation has, remarkably (considering our fascination with celebrity), left you alone and let you live your life in peace. (It's like, long ago, we all collectively agreed that, with her father tragically gone, a man who died because he wanted to serve his country, we would look out for her, we would wish for her to be happy and well, and we would have her back. But we would let her be.)

Now, I am breaking this unwritten code and asking you to come forward and help us in our hour of need. So many families are hurting, losing their homes, going bankrupt with health care bills, seeing their public schools in shambles and living with this war without end. This is a historic year for women, from Hillary's candidacy to the numerous women running for the House and Senate. This is the year that a woman should be on the Democratic ticket. This is the year that both names on that ticket should be people OUTSIDE the party machine. This is the year millions of independents and, yes, millions of Republicans are looking for something new and fresh and bold (and you are the Kennedy Republicans would vote for!).

This is the moment, Caroline. Seize it! And Barack, if you're reading this, you probably know that she is far too humble and decent to nominate herself. So step up and surprise us again. Step up and be different than every politician we have witnessed in our lifetime. Keep the passion burning amongst the young people and others who have been energized by your unexpected, unpredicted, against-all-odds candidacy that has ignited and inspired a nation. Do it for all those reasons. Make Caroline Kennedy your VP. "Obama-Kennedy." Wow, does that sound so cool.

Caroline, thanks for letting me intrude on your life. How wonderful it will be to have a vice president who will respect the Constitution, who will support (instead of control) her president, who will never let her staff out a CIA agent, and who will never tell her country that she is "currently residing in an undisclosed location."

Say it one more time: "OBAMA-KENNEDY." A move like that might send a message to the country that the Democrats would actually like to win an election for once.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

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i couldn't agree more. but biden is still a good choice. i just heard that obama and his vp are going to Indianapolis on Sat., which implies Bayh. I hope not!!!

Your second paragraph is REALLY insightful -- we all love good old Joe so much, but the mastery which has held so far by Obama,his team and (we) grassroots folk has stunned all the sense out of the neocons...and we 'don't do polls'..

This is exciting eh? P.S. on the Michael Moore spec: Michael needs
attention and apparently feels we cannot do without his insight. It shows he loves Obama tho'. Obama has shown expert skill in carrying the 'cross' and curiously with all the criticism, he is the ONLY ONE accomplishing ANYTHING.

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm.

I like Joe Biden.. I have heard him speak several times and every time I have been very impressed.

Jason

Mark Fabiani, communications director for Al Gore's 2000 presidential bid, said of Obama: "To me he's ridden the change horse this far in politics, and if I'm him, I don't want to get off that horse. And I don't worry about shoring up my foreign policy credentials, and I don't worry about winning this state or that state. I worry about projecting an image of change."

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Couldn't have said it better myself (though I tried)