So, Obama/Biden ‘08… 

Everything the past few days has pointed to Barack Obama choosing Joe Biden as his running mate, notwithstanding a few fake-outs and misreadings of the tea leaves, such as the hints that we’d see Clinton on the ticket after all, the sudden mention of Chet Edwards yesterday, and Wonkette’s conviction last night that Jack Reed would be the surprise choice (Reed would in fact have been an outstanding choice, but he did rule himself out earlier this summer). So I was hardly surprised when a late-night text message woke me up, announcing that Obama had in fact chosen Biden. 

Biden is, in no way, a profoundly progressive choice, but it’s an excellent choice in terms of realpolitik.

Indeed, coming from a family forced to declare bankruptcy during my father’s long medical crisis, I’m not thrilled having the senator from MBNA and the father of bankruptcy “reform” as perhaps the next Vice President. But as is the perpetual dilemma of American progressives, do you pick the far-less-than-ideal choice or the it-can’t-get-worse-why-yes-it-can choice? (Aside: even living in a state where Obama will cruise to a landslide victory, the progressive alternatives aren’t that appealing: Ralph Nader isn’t building a progressive movement beyond himself, and former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Green candidate, is prone to anti-Semitic and homophobic outbursts).

So, we have a ticket of two Democrats from the middle ground of the party.

Biden is popular with older voters, Catholic voters, working-class voters (and Jewish voters) - I suspect that Obama is more confident in his appeal in Virginia and the Mountain West, and is more concerned about McCain’s inroads with Clinton voters in the Rust Belt. Biden should play very well in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan, coming from the same background as many of the voters who gave Clinton her later primary victories. 

Obama, in selecting a six-term Senator who is very popular and widely respected inside the Beltway and the media establishment, is sending the message that “change” might involve bringing more people into the political system, but that he doesn’t fundamentally seek to change how things work. 

Biden knows how to play rough without seeming dirty - he eviscerated the entire rationale for Rudy Guiliani’s campaign by declaring (aptly) that everything the former mayor said was made up of “a noun, a verb, and 9/11.” 

Obama is also about to blow McCain’s supposed claim on being stronger in national security out of the water. The Russian-Georgian crisis put foreign policy back at center stage, and McCain jumped in loudly, all but promising a Second Cold War if he was elected. Obama sent Biden to Tbilisi to meet with President Saakashvili and discuss U.S. support for rebuilding Georgia. There is a wide-open opportunity here, to paint McCain - a la Lyndon Johnson’s campaign against Barry Goldwater - as an ideologue & a warmonger (both of which are credible charges) rather than the safe choice for national security.

Back in June, David Brooks (who generally irks me) aptly pointed out that the Republicans think they’re up against the second coming of Adlai Stevenson… when, in fact, they’re up against the second coming of Richard Daley. (Perhaps not surprisingly, Brooks’ column yesterday called on Obama to pick Biden). This choice demonstrates that Obama will do exactly what he needs to do to come out on top.