Obama's choice of Biden as Vice President makes perfect sense, though the Senator from Delaware does carry some baggage.The task of choosing a vice president is never an easy one. I'm glad that I've never had the opportunity to embark on such a crusade.
In choosing a running-mate, several criteria must be met: 1. The mate must be 99.9% n-sync with your views, in order for that person to fully campaign on your ideologies and help your chances at being elected; 2. The mate must appeal to some kind of demographic that you yourself have had trouble with reaching; 3. The mate must offer some kind of X-factor that brings an extra layer of intelligence, sophistication, and grit to your campaign.
This list is obviously basic, but you get the point--choosing running mate is hard goddamn business, and it is no surprise that Obama assembled a committee for his choice and waited until the week before the Democratic Convention to name his selection. Now, let's see how Biden stacks up with the criteria.
N-Sync: Biden is a fairly moderate liberal, which follows well with the image that Obama has been projecting. He is pro-choice, pro-gun control, opposes oil drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuse, opposes capital punishment, supports government action against global warming, and he supports comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship. So, he hits every major base as far as the big issues are concerned with no serious gaffes (and this was definitely an important factor for Obama, as the previous front-runner for the VP slot, Tim Kaine, was undoubtedly rejected because of his pro-life position).
Voting: This is an important factor in choosing Biden, albeit not as important as the final factor (in my ever-so-subtle opinion). Biden comes from Irish working-class roots, a self-made man who could appeal to the "bitter" voters who felt alienated/intimidated by the Harvard-educated, orange-juice-drinking, jogging Obama. Also, Biden has been a senator for a whopping 35 years, and that experience will look quite enticing to any voters still foolish enough to prefer Senator McBush's judgment to Obama's.
The X Factor: Biden is Mr. Foreign Policy, and while Obama has already demonstrated far greater judgment than McCain regarding foreign affairs, the addition of Biden to his team will cement the advantage on foreign policy. How influential is Biden on an international scale? As chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden recently made an important visit to Georgia following their devastating war with Russia. The kicker? Georgian leaders personally invited Biden. Now THAT is muscle. Add to it Biden's strong stance on China's rise to power and you have a tailor-made ambassador of foreign chops.
A second x-factor that Biden brings to the dinner table is aggression, something Obama has tinkered with but not fully committed to. Biden famously remarked during the primaries that Rudy Giuliani's sentences were composed of "a noun, and a verb and 9/11," in response to the constant fear-mongering that Giuliani and similarly-wacko neocons were divulging. Imagine the witty one-liners in store about McCain's houses, or his generally forgetful nature! Biden adds an obvious spark to a well-intentioned if passive campaign that tried to focus its message on unity and positivity in an age of fear-politics and smearing. Nice try, but aggression wins modern elections, and Biden is the right guy to have unloading his guns for your side.
The Negatives: Unfortunately, Joe Biden is human, and he brings with him several controversies and some access baggage that the McCain will no doubt use against the Obama/Biden campaign. Aside from the obvious targets--Biden's supposed plagiarism, an incident of resume inflation, his...hair plugs---Biden has had the tendency to shoot from the hip, occasionally making comments that irritate democrats and enrage republicans. Now, I'm always up for fiery, controversial politics, but with a voting bloc as white-bread and lame as the current American demographic, the characteristics that win elections are steady, consistent, and above all else, NORMAL, and while Biden should be given carte-blanche to attack McCain, we should also sincerely hope that he doesn't get too carried away.
Not that he would ever approach the level of, oh...Dick Cheney!
So while Biden is not flawless, he's easily the strongest VP pick Obama had at his disposal, and should Obama win the general election come November, Biden will no doubt make a strong, eloquent Vice President.
No comments:
Post a Comment