This Friday night was my second night sleeping in my dorm. I, like many other Americans, was awoken at 3am from a sound sleep (or, as sound as possible in a concrete rectangle with no air conditioning) by a text message alert from the Obama Campaign making good on their promise to text all who wished to be notified as soon as a vice president was chosen. As I focused my vision on the small screen in the wee hours of the morning I read this:
“Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm ET on www.BarackObama.com. Spread the word!”
Immediately after reading this, I uttered one word: “shit.” Why would Obama chose Joe Biden? The man who (knowingly or unknowingly) passed into the world one of the most notable and racially charged gaffs of the campaign: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy”. (What was he trying to say?) This was the first (and only) morsel of my knowledge that came to mind at 3am. I stared at the springs supporting the bunk above mine as I pondered the move and went back to sleep. Waking up a few hours later, I checked my phone again to make sure I hadn’t dreamed the experience. I read once again, Barack Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his vice presidential nominee. Shit. Then it all dawned on me: Biden was truly Obama’s only choice. Biden provides a perfect counterweight to the Obama’s flaws as articulated by the McCain camp. To the claim that Obama is inexperienced, Biden is a senior senator to even John McCain. To the claim that Obama has no foreign policy, Biden is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee. To the claim that Obama’s speeches have no substance, Biden is plain spoken and colloquial. To the claims that Obama is too liberal, Biden will attract the more moderate to conservative democrats. Even to the classical qualification of choosing a vice president (geographically balancing the ticket) Biden comes through–almost. (Although not bringing a geographically balance of the North Carolinian John Edwards, Delaware would still bring more of a balance than, say, a certain other senator from New York.)
Almost exactly 12 hours after making the text message notification, Obama and Biden made consecutive speeches in Springfield, Illinois. Obama spoke of Biden’s strong suits and did not once mention McCain, while Biden split time between speaking highly of Obama and tying the failures of the Bush administration and John McCain, while still calling McCain “a friend.”
Now it’s McCain’s turn to choose a Vice President. My call would be former mayor and failed presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani would almost certainly deliver some votes from former democratic stronghold New York, and hold the more moderate to liberal republicans that may have previously fled to Obama/Biden.
But, as politics (as well as life) always proves–there are no sure bets.
Play games on Logan Frederick
