Biden choice is a real yawner
Inter Lake editorial
The Democratic convention got under way Monday night with a rousing speech by Michelle Obama and an emotional appearance by Ted Kennedy.
On Tuesday, crowd favorite Hillary Clinton was scheduled to take the stage and remind everyone why she nearly won the nomination.
On Thursday, the nation can expect to be held spellbound as Barack Obama accepts the nomination of his party for president of the United States - the first black man to be so honored.
And sandwiched between the high drama of Clinton and Obama will be the man who would be vice president - Joe Biden Jr., a man who spent one year running for president in the up close and personal states of New Hampshire and Iowa and came away with 1 percent of the vote.
You have to wonder what Obama was thinking. After all, the vice presidential pick is the first significant decision a candidate makes on his way to the White House, as ill fortune could result in the VP choice one day serving in the Oval Office himself.
Yes, we know the conventional wisdom says that Biden is a good pick because of his foreign-policy credentials and because he sounds like he knows what he is talking about. But as anyone who has spent much time watching C-SPAN can tell you, the gift of gab in a U.S. senator is not necessarily a good thing.
A Gallup tracking poll since Biden's selection, in fact, shows Republican John McCain actually pulling ahead of Obama for the first time in months. That's probably a result of the same anti-charisma factor that netted Biden his 1 percent in the Iowa caucus.
All right, Biden really isn't as bad as many vice presidential picks, including some successful ones. His experience as chairman of the Senate Foreigh Relations Committee cannot be underestimated, and his age and maturity are a plus when running with the relatively inexperienced Obama.
But however you add it up, the bottom line is that Obama and Biden don't make a good fit. Obama has sold himself as the "change" candidate for the last two years, and Biden is the consummate career politician - with 35 years in the Senate, two failed bids for the presidency, and a plagiarism scandal to his credit. It's hard to see how Obama benefits here, except he looks even newer and more exciting with Biden at his side.
Of course, Sen. Biden could surprise us. We will be watching his speech tonight to see whether he has learned anything from his running mate about how to energize a large crowd. In any case, Biden is thoroughly vetted, and there are unlikely to be any damaging surprises, which in itself is a big plus these days.
Nor should anyone count Barack Obama out at this point. John McCain will get a chance to make his own bad vice presidential pick later this week, and most of the likely contenders are uninspiring, to say the least. Several of them even surpass Biden for lack of charisma.
But one thing is clear: The battle is now on, and it will be a heated contest to the finish line. Biden is a bit player. It's all about Obama and McCain from now on.