What do you think of when you hear the phrase "Obama Joe Biden"? It could have a subliminal effect.
Anyway, I think that Jonah has the best take on the veep pick:
He says interesting things, from time to time. I think he makes a fair point here and there. He was correct, for example, that Congress needed to have a real debate over the war. I think he has some obvious verbal intelligence. But, again, what's fascinating -- and what might be distracting some folks from seeing his underlying-yet-occassional smarts -- is that he lets his ego and vanity get in the way. The man loves his voice so much, you'd expect him to be following it around in a gray Buick, in defiance of restraining order, as it walks home from school. He seems to think his teeth are some kind of hypnotic punctuation marks which can momentarily disorient the listener and absolve him from any of Western civilization's usual imperatives to stop talking. Listening to him speechify is like playing an intellectual game of whack-a-mole where every now and then the fuzzy head of a good point pops up from the tundra but before you can pin it down, he starts talking about how he went to the store and saw a squirrel on the way and it was brown which brings to mind Brown V. Board of Ed which most people don't understand because [TEETH FLASH] he taught Brown in his law school course and [TEETH FLASH] Mr. Chairman I'm going to get right to it and besides these aren't the droids you're looking for...
This is going to be a very entertaining election. I think that they're going to be a double-barrelled gaffe machine.
[Update a few minutes later]
Jay Nordlinger:
All politicians have sizable egos, but this may be the most self-loving ticket ever. There's an old saying, "He'll die in his own arms" -- that can apply to both of them. (I've thought of it in connection with McCain, too.) And Obama and Biden are two of the gassiest politicians in all the land -- they are rhetorically impossible.
I suspect that after a couple non-stop months of the Joebama Show, not that many are going to look forward to four years of it.
And the McCain campaign was ready to go with the ad.
[Update at noon]
Hey we not only have a messiah, but a veep who's a certified genius. Just ask him.
[Update half an hour later]
PJM has a link roundup of reax.
[Update in the afternoon]
Man, Limbaugh must think he died and went to heaven. I'll bet he has a huge library of Biden audio gaffes, enough for fresh material every week from here to November.
A balanced ticket: two lightweights.
I'm glad to see that McCain's camp was prepared for any of the obvious veep choices. The new ad, using Biden's words against Obama and for McCain, is pretty effective....
Didn't you post a link about McCain being inside Obama's OODA loop?
BBB
Do you know the story behind the teeth flashing mannerism? When Biden was younger, he had a terrible stuttering problem, serious enough to be disabling. Biden overcame his problem, using it an odd smile to force his facial muscles to relax his muscles.
Jonah and others can ridicule Biden for his odd smile, but they are not just making fun of someone with a disability, but they are making fun of the way he learned to overcome his disability.
What do you think of when you hear the phrase "Obama Joe Biden"?
Rand, I am not sure what you are getting at here. It sounds like you are hinting at a taboo subject (something racial? something sexual? something drug-related?) and if you are, maybe I sound naive or clueless, but truly, in this case, I can't solve your puzzle and I do need a clue. Now you've got me curious, so I hope you'll eventually reveal more. Thanks.
Well, it obviously won't be a problem for you.
Hint: think bearded guy in a cave in Afghanistan.
"Jonah and others can ridicule Biden for his odd smile, but they are not just making fun of someone with a disability, but they are making fun of the way he learned to overcome his disability. "
There aren't enough endearing or heartwarming childhood stories to make up for this hyper-arrogant prick of a Neal Kinniock plagerizing blowhard douchenozzle of an assbag's plethora of shortcomings.
Here you go Rand, the bumpersticker people are already way ahead of you.
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w305/mcgeedigital/OBAMABINBIDEN.jpg
That bumper sticker is completely lacking in subtlety.
Ah! Thanks Rand. I feared worse!
Now if McCain choose Fred, both VPs would be the same age, Fred Aug 1942, Joe Nov 1942.
The Clinton reaction was hysterical.
I just do not understand Obama's conservatism with this pick. He could have picked a young female governor (Sibelius), a former First Lady, someone out of the blue -- maybe another black man! -- and instead he goes for a senior white-bread Social Security collectin' member of the same posh WASPy club (the Senate), a fellow Northeastern establishment liberal, a fellow talk-talk guy who loves his own voice, and a fellow who's been as perennial a candidate for President as Gus Hall was.
WTF? Not even hard-core Democrats have ever thrilled to the idea of Joe Biden as President, and they've had plenty of opportunities over the years to consider the option. So what makes Team Obama think American in general will?
I don't think they do. It's not a "thrill" choice. It's a no-lose choice, a safe choice. Biden obviously has no skeletons in his closet, not after all this time, and he is generally a friendly enough harmless guy that you stick on the Foreign Aid committee to dole out American's conscience money to assorted African shitholes.
But this is stupid. The man (Obama) is supposed to be running a daring completely new thing campaign. Plus he's young. He can afford to make daring choices. Why not? Either he wins in a blaze of glory, or, well, he doesn't, and can come back in '12, '16, '20 et cetera with a more conservative choice (but with credit for having been innovative and bold in '08).
You know, I almost feel sorry for the guy. It's like all the gas has gone out of the campaign. When he started, and it was just a crazy long shot, he seemed relaxed, amused, bold and innovative. Now it's like the graybeards have gotten to him, always plucking at his sleeve and nattering into his ear, and he's turned cautious, plodding, evasive, calculating -- and certainly doesn't seem to be having fun any more.
I just get the feeling people like the bumper sticker author don't realize that bin (in Arabic), ben (in Hebrew), and the suffix son (in English) all mean the same thing. If a foreigner said that psychokiller Charles Manson's last name sounds suspicously close to congressman Charles Wilson's last name, we'd scoff.
Anyway, I'm relieved, because Barack has been weathering the silly comparisons between Obama and Osama for quite some time now.
Carl: My wife, a high school teacher predisposed to hate plagiarists who was quite negative about Biden for VP, turned to me when Biden's speech in Springfield was over and said "Wow, I have to admit I'm impressed. Maybe I like this guy after all." She liked Biden's energy and the charming way he went on the attack against McCain.
Bob, google "cognitive dissonance." All Democrats will be discovering how much more they like Biden then they thought when they gave him the finger in primary after primary for the past 20 years.
The other choice is to admit that The One made a godawful dumb mistake.