I heard the news today, Oh boy! About a lucky man who made the grade.With apologies to the Beatles and with recognition that I'm alluding to a lyrical car crash — which is not what I mean to connote — I will say that I'm happy about Obama's selection of Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) as his vice presidential candidate – and with the secrecy in which he made it.
I think it was more than a year ago now that I interviewed a woman who was then newly installed as chief of staff for a Congressman. We had an off the record conversation toward the end when I asked her who she liked in the 2008 presidential race. It might have been early 2007, or perhaps even earlier. "I'm not sure why yet, but I like Joe Biden," she said.
Sen. Biden isn't perfect. Though he's clearly a bright man, he's prone to make stupid comments that can be interpreted in a way other than how he intended. He'll have to temper his sense of humor. While he's a Catholic, he's voted pro-choice; that'll be an issue for many Catholics. I for one do not vote for a president based on a person's opinions on this clearly important issue. But it will likely embarass the campaign when a priest chooses not to serve him communion, just as it did with John Kerry.
But Biden's strength is his familiarity with foreign leader and his experience as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee. I'd been thinking that if he weren't selected for the vice presidency, he'd make a good Secretary of Defense. But I'm pleased with where he is.
The question to be asked of any vice president is whether he can handle the job of president. While no one wants to talk about it much, that is a matter of utmost concern for this ticket, because there are too many wackos out there who won't like the idea of an African-American president. I believe Biden could step in and do the job, though I hope Obama has a strong first term in the office. We're going to need steady hands atop our government for the next several years.
Let the love-fest begin!
I'm sure Sen. McCain also will select a capable partner (though I really don't think it'll be Mitt Romney, regardless of the possibility that it would swing Michigan his way). And this will be an election for the ages. Personally, I have great hopes for a President Obama. I think he'll be a strong leader and decades from now people will look at Sen. McCain as an unfortunate leader who went up against a tidal wave. (Too bad McCain wasn't elected in 2000, they'll say, but that's a discussion for a different time.)
It will be a difficult couple of months ahead, but I'm happy to be pleased with the Democratic ticket. It's been a long time since I felt this good about a presidential team.
2 comments:
Well I'm sure you saw Hillary Clinton's speech last night, and although I fell asleep before she came on (the perils of having to be up by 4am each morning!) I saw the highlights this morning on the news & have to say I'm very proud to be a woman in America right now! She is awesome and in our house was always referred to as Madame President...maybe in eight years? But now we support Obama and rightly so, because like many of us we want change and need change...it's time for someone to confront the problems of the common man and I believe Obama-Biden will do that! Question: IF Hillary HAD won the nomination who do you think she would have asked to share HER ticket?
Thanks, Cammy. That's an interesting question. I'm not sure, though I think it would have depended on how the primary ended up. It wouldn't have surprised me if she'd chosen Biden, too. I doubt she'd have selected Obama -- at least after the intense primary. If she'd coasted into the nomination, then perhaps she'd have selected Obama. However, I think that, if New Mexico governor Bill Richardson hadn't ended up supporting Obama, he might have been a strong Clinton VP candidate.
Post a Comment