Biden: Clearly the Best Choice

You can criticize some of Barack Obama’s campaign strategies, but his pick for Vice President was one of the best moves he has made since he secured the nomination. First, let’s take a look at some of the top alternatives and why they were not chosen.

Tim Kain? Kain is still in his first term as Governor of Virginia. He’s young and a future Democratic-party star, but what would he add to the ticket? He has more or less the same characteristics as Obama. Had Kain been selected, it would reinforce the idea of change, but with both candidates as relative new comers, it might have signaled too much change for Americans. Primarily, Kain would add to Obama’s chief negative; his lack of national and international experience.

Evan Byah? Byah might have been a good choice, but he is not exactly Mr. Excitement, is he? Byah is a steady and moderate Democrat. He might have brought Indiana’s electoral votes to the Democrats. However, Byah lacks one important quality for the Vice Presidential campaign. He has not demonstrated an ability to serve as an attack dog. The role that traditionally goes to the vice-presidential nominee.

Somebody mentioned Texas Congressman Chet Edwards. All I can say about that is, “You’ve got to the kidding.” Obama’s campaign might have thrown out the name to play with the heads of some reporters, but in my opinion, Congressman Edwards was never a serious candidate for the VP slot.

A lot of people, including my wife, wanted Hillary Clinton, but it was never going to be. Selecting Hillary might have helped unify the party, but in my opinion, party unity is really not a major problem. Hillary’s supporters might be a bit miffed, but when they think about the issues of health care, women’s rights, maintaining reproductive choice, and civil rights (all issues for which they have been fighting for years), they could not possibly vote for McCain. Hillary was never a serious candidate for VP. She knew it and so should have everyone in the media who made it look like she was.

Biden is clearly the best choice, for several reasons. First, he fills in what is obviously Obama’s chief negative, his lack of experience. Besides being one of the longest serving Senators, Biden is a recognized expert on foreign policy. He is the sitting chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and to boot is a past chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Biden has met and negotiated with foreign leaders. Like McCain, Biden has a personal relationship with (and recently visited) Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The point I want to make here is the Biden has more time in the Senate than McCain and a good deal more foreign policy experience than McCain. On those grounds alone, he could not be a better choice for Obama.

Biden also brings one other asset to the Obama campaign. He has a reputation for being a tough but gentlemanly campaigner. He will be the “attack dog Obama needs, but he will do it in a way that respects his opponents. Biden and McCain are friends and have worked together in the Senate, but Biden will not hold back when it comes to pointing out the weakness of McCain’s campaign promises.

Finally, Biden is a top notch debater. He is articulate (we might even say he’s clean) knows the important issues inside and out. If you watched the Democratic primary debates, as I did, you will see that Biden stood out in all of them, despite that the media paid him little attention.