What does Biden tell us?
By 
Shan-ul-Hai •
August 23, 2008
In case you haven’t heard yet, Obama officially announced yesterday that Joe Biden will be his running mate. I don’t think anybody will deny the fact that Biden’s “experience” played a major role in the decision… Obama has been criticized for lack thereof, so he needed a running mate who has been in Washington for a long time (although, as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t think that a bunch of experience in the Senate or as a low-level military officer is as important as Obama’s experience and training as a law expert). But if we read a little bit deeper into the selection, what can we learn about Obama himself?
He could have picked a wide variety of yes-men as his VP candidate. He could have taken this opportunity to call a truce with the Hillary mob. But he wanted to stick with his convictions, and Hillary was an expert in the kind of politics that Obama had been deriding. He wanted to show that he will run an administration of logic and reason rather than political maneuvering. Biden has a history of challenging the norm and making a positive contribution to a discourse; Obama wants somebody who will prove him wrong when need be.
Now it’s time to see which of the cookie-cutter candidates McCain picks.
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It tells me that Obama is more serious about winning than he is about change. For the last 30 + years, Biden has been a part of the system. How does that represent change? When given the choice between Washington insider name recognition and real change, Obama chooses the name brand. How is that change at all, let alone change we can believe in?
Well McCain named Sarah Palin. Unexperienced like Obama but definitely meant to get the Hillary supporters. If there is anyone interested in winning alone, it is McCain. Obama knows his weakness and did not allow himself to take the easy way out and choose Hillary just to get a win-win solution.
McCain is just another traditional politician who adjusts to situations to get what he wants. He’s been eying the presidency for so long and would do anything to get it. Political convenience has been agin put at the forefront by the Republicans instead of issues that affect Americans.
Joe’s a good pick. He has been quietly and effectively working for people without a voice in our “democracy”, and believes that tomorrow can be a better day if we join together and do what we can. And yes, I’m sure President Obama will ask for and value the advice that Joe can give him.
At this point I think it’s safe to say that McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin has undermined any confidence we could have had in him and his ability to reason. This choice was based purely on “STRATEGY,” with a capital “S”.
I hope the American public can see past the rhetoric to Sarah’s actual choices as governor of Alaska. We have to remember, she didn’t build the bridge but she kept the money anyway! Very telling…