I think that the Joe Biden selection is a masterstroke on Barack Obama's part.
Barack Obama picking Joe Biden as his running mate is a strong, pragmatic, and extremely strategic choice that only reinforces my faith in his judgement to lead this country.
Let's face it, the Republican party is in serious trouble and John McCain is a terrible candidate. Their fortunes are in such bad shape that the only place they've been able to make inroads on Obama is through negative campaigning.
Both directly and though surrogates, the McCain camp has cast aspersions upon Obama's race, his patriotism, his popularity, and anything else could they could try to dig up. Don't be fooled for a minute -- these attacks are pointed at the fears of Mr. & Mrs. Middle America -- the undecideds that are going to swing this election in one direction or another.
The problem is, Obama can't aggressively fight back against them because if he highlights them for what they are (veiled racism), the Republicans point at HIM for "playing the race card." Worse yet, if he truly takes off the gloves, he gets hit for being an "Angry Black Man" -- and that’s the absolute worse spot for him to be in. NOTHING scares Middle America more than a Black man who is forceful, assertive, confident, and articulate. He is immediately painted as Militant or Uppity.
Biden brings the "White Man with Gray hair" presence to the ticket. Middle America can look at him and say "Hey -- he's one of US." More importantly, Biden can fight back against all of the veiled racist bullshit in a hard, take-no-prisoners manner. Remember his comments after Bush addressed the Israeli Knesset with his "appeasement" talk-track?
"This is bullshit, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the President of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset ... and make this kind of ridiculous statement."
That's the kind of strong and immediate pushback that the Obama campaign has needed but that Obama simply can't allow himself to engage in. It's even stronger because Biden can bring serious Foreign Policy chops to the table which add weight to his comments.
I've heard all of the hand-wringing about how Biden can sometimes ramble on or put his foot in his mouth. While that's true, Americans like a guy who shoots straight from the hip and who is perceived as speaking his mind. As a matter of fact, Biden's presence derails McCain's so-called "Straight Talk Express" because, due to his stature, and his gravitas, he will be able to call the Republicans on their lies and distortions with his own brand of straight talk -- backed up by years of experience.
People have to remember that in order to win this thing, Barack Obama has to play Chess, not checkers. When the history of this campaign is written, we will look back on the Joe Biden pick as the first move of the Endgame.