It's official. Joe Biden is Obama's vice presidential pick. And, of the various choices that were on any short list, he was by far the best (ironically, in my VP poll that I stupidly took down, Biden placed dead last with two votes). He was actually one of my favorite candidates running in the primaries. He would have surely become secretary of defense had John Kerry won in 2004. He's a foreign policy expert, and he's a rabid attack dog. Yes, the man has the occasional off-the-cuff gaffe, but he'll make a good balance for a candidate that is almost too polite and holds his tongue when he often shouldn't.It was never going to be Russ Feingold (although since Edwards isn't a contender anymore, Feingold would make a hell of an Attorney General), but after Russia and Georgia went to hell, Obama needed someone who knew more about foreign policy than Obama and McCain combined. They also needed someone who could gleefully point out that McCain of 2000 or even 2005 is not the McCain of 2008. They needed someone who could explain with authority why McCain's lobbyist ties to Georgia makes him a terrible president in a time when Russia seems to be a new long term problem. They need an hatchet man to defuse the three-week string of poundings that Obama has taken (which is why Obama should have announced this a month ago), someone who can defuse the whole 'You can't criticize me on that, I was a POW!' thread (Biden's personal story is even more tragic). That man is Joe Biden.
Does anyone else think it's funny that, as I jokingly predicted to friends yesterday, the fabled text message to supporters went out at 3:00am last night? That can't be a coincidence can it?
Scott Mendelson
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