Sen. John McCain has made countless gaffes. He doesn't know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite. He's referred to the defunct country of Czechoslovakia. He thinks people making $4 million are middle class. He has so many houses he can't count them. Unfortunately, Sen. Obama has not hit back hard on these gaffes. Biden can and will hit hard on these gaffes. Earlier today, Biden spoke in Springfield, Illinois. He mentioned that regular people sit in front of their kitchen table and worry; McCain has to decide which kitchen sink to sit in front of.
The McCain campaign wasted no time today, and have already released an attack ad with footage of Joe Biden saying that Sen. Obama is not ready for the presidency. They will probably point to his plagiarized speech in his 1988 campaign. However, Biden can hit back just as hard. He can say, "What was I supposed to say? Vote for him and not me?" in response to the attack ad. With the plagiarized speech, Biden can say, "Fair enough. Let's also talk about McCain taking bribes from convicted felon Charles Keating also in the 1980s."
Biden's roots are of a quintessential American person, as are Barack Obama's. He was born in Scranton, PA to a working-class Catholic family. His father was a car salesman. He went to the University of Delaware and then to Syracuse University for his law degree. At the age of 29, he ran for Senate and won -- commencing a seemingly limitless career in politics.
Tragedy struck just a few months after his election. His wife and infant daughter were killed in a car accident, his two sons badly injured. He was sworn in at a hospital, caring for his recovering sons. He decided to commute an hour and a half every day from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, to the D.C. to maximize his time with them. Thirty-five years later, he continues this. He is currently the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In addition to his attack dog-style mentality, Biden is very strong on foreign policy. It makes it difficult for the Republicans to attack the Democrats on foreign policy when Biden has been in the Senate for 14 more years than Sen. McCain. John McCain has also never been the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
From an electoral point of view, Biden also helps. A son of Pennsylvania, Biden can easily go into suburbs and rural areas of Pennsylvania to lock in their 21 electoral votes. His working-class roots help Obama's chances in Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, and New Hampshire -- all states he wants to win. He will appeal to rural Catholics and is comfortable with being President. There are few, if any, with more experience than Biden.
Biden, like all choices would have some downsides. As mentioned above, he plagiarized a speech in his 1988 run for the Presidency. He also can let his mouth run longer than it should. That could be seen as a positive in that if he's blabbing about McCain, it could get Obama some votes. Biden, 65, will probably be too old to run for President in 2016. There could be a big primary battle. He also brings nothing to the table as far as economics, the biggest concern of voters. That was the main reason I endorsed Evan Bayh as VP.
Joe Biden is a strong pick. If I was Obama, I would have selected Bayh as the VP and encourage my donors to give to the attack dogs such as moveon.org. As I said above, I completely understand why Obama chose Biden. It's a solid pick and they both spoke well earlier today. It will be up to these two men to help put a Democrat back in the White House. I'm confident they'll win.
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