Forget all you've been reading about Biden's foreign affairs experience, about Obama's need to fill in supposed gaps in his resume, about McCain dissing Obama for not choosing Clinton. The overriding reason Biden was chosen is smart and simple:
Biden is in a unique position to challenge McCain's alleged maverickness.
Unlike every other Vice-Presidential possibility, Biden knows John McCain well. They have served together in the Senate since McCain arrived in 1987. They've been good friends for years. Biden knows, and can articulate more clearly than anybody, how McCain has changed in the past year and a half:
I'll say straight up to you - John McCain and the press knows this, is genuinely a friend of mine. I've known John for 35 years. He served our country with extraordinary courage and I know he wants to do right by America. But the harsh truth is, ladies and gentlemen, you can't change America when you boast. And these are John's words, quote, the most important issues of our day, I've been totally in agreement and support of President Bush. Ladies and gentlemen, that's what he said. You can't change America when you supported George Bush's policies 95% of the time. You can't change America when you believe, and these are his own words, that in the Bush administration we've made great progress economically. You can't change America and make things better for our senior citizens when you signed on to Bush's scheme of privatizing social security. You can't change America and give our workers a fighting chance when after 3 million manufacturing jobs disappear, you continue to support tax breaks for companies who ship our jobs overseas. You can't change America and end this war in Iraq when you declare and, again, these are John's words, no one has supported President Bush in Iraq more than I have, end of quote. Ladies and gentlemen, you can't change America, you can't change America when you know your first four years as president will look exactly like the last eight years of George Bush's presidency.
That's an opener. Biden will be saying, repeatedly, versions of "My old friend John McCain actually used to be a maverick. But when he decided to run from President, he decided that he had to be just like George W Bush." The beauty of this is that Biden will be able to go after McCain's strength -- his vaunted independence -- while Obama goes after McCain's weakness -- his proclivity for gaffes.
Consider, for a moment, where that leaves McCain. Check out The Carpetbagger Report's list of McCain flip-flops (the best list I know, BTW). Biden's job will be to point to, say, points nine and ten --
- McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Hamas. Now he believes the opposite.
- McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Syria. Now he believes the opposite.
-- and say, "The old John McCain would have stuck with his conscience; now he panders to Bush supporters. How sad. He used to be such a maverick." Obama, in the meantime, will hammer away at McCain's lack of discipline. His campaign was clearly ready to capitalize on the real estate baron last week; I begin to believe they're ready for anything.
McCain has been able, just barely, to move the narrative his way over the last several weeks. I believe he's done that in a particularly dangerous way, by rolling out all of the attacks he has before most voters are paying attention. Now Obama, by returning fire and exploiting gaffes, and Biden, by undercutting the maverick narrative, can keep the McCain campaign off message. If McCains responds to Obama, then Biden pulls out another McCain flip-flop.
Can the Republican Veep candidate help McCain? I don't think so. IMO, McCain is obliged to pick a strong pro-life nominee. That removes Tom Ridge and, of course, Joe Whatever-his-name-is from Connecticut; it realistically eliminates Mitt Romney, who only recently changed his mind. Liz Sidoti's AP article is reasonably good at laying out the difficulties beyond that, though I doubt highly that David Petraeus or Colin Powell would be interested. The best fit seems to be Rob Portman, who can reinforce the maverick meme:
Portman was known as a legislator who reached across the aisle, and he authored or co-authored over a dozen bills that became law. These included bills to reform the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS Restructuring Act of 1998), Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, curbing unfunded mandates (the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995), expanding pensions offered by small businesses and increasing the contribution limits on 401(k) plans and IRAs. Portman also helped author legislation to protect tropical rainforests worldwide (The Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998), to eliminate capital gains taxes on the sale of most homes, three bills to promote drug prevention and education, and a bill that was very recently enacted to help prisoners safely reenter society (The Second Chance Act of 2008).
Portman, however, is no ball of fire on the stump, and that would force McCain to be his own attack dog -- which means, of course, more McCain gaffes, and more attacks from Biden on McCain's pandering.
I have not been too keen on Biden as a pick, largely because of his cozy relationship with banks and credit card companies. I'm not going to be a concern troll, however. Biden, and really Biden alone, can tear into John McCain's record. He'll do it loudly and vigorously, and enjoy every minute. What more could we ask of a Veep nominee?