Since the cable guy has yet to grace our new apartment with his presence (that blessed day happens tomorrow), we've been spared most of the three-ring circus around Obama's VP pick. But today at the gym, I got a whiff of the frenzy we've been missing. Watching CNN stalk Biden's, Kaine's & Bayh's houses, while also keeping an eye on Midway airport was surreal. And Wolf's insistence that we stay tuned in case that text message came through really made me wonder what Edward R Murrow would think about what his profession had become.
None of this, of course, stopped me from switching back over to the Olympics. I'm not much of a boxing fan, and the computerized scoring system in use in Beijing strikes me as flat out bizarre--it's almost as if points are given at random amidst the punching and flailing. I'm sure there's an allusion to the MSM and the campaign to be made here, so feel free to insert your own. Anyhow, having signed up for the Email Message That Will Change the World (tm), I figured I could safely ignore the the media's efforts to turn this aspect of the campaign into some sort of reality show (is the rose for Biden? Hillary?)
Now CNN is reporting that Obama has picked Biden & other bloggers have said the secret service is at Biden's, which would seem to bear this out. It would great if this turned out to be another New York Post, Kerry/Gephardt moment, not because I'm anti-Biden, but just because I think the media deserves it.
What impresses me about all of this is the way Obama and his campaign have skillfully manipulated the media and exploited the power of new forms of communication to heighten the drama and impact of this moment. The discipline which the campaign has shown in preventing leaks and milking the free publicity for all its worth gives me renewed confidence that this will be a formidable operation to deal with in the Fall.
And the timing of course couldn't be better. With McCain undermining the entire message of his campaign over the last month thanks to his inability to remember how many houses he has, Obama has a chance in the next week to turn this around for good. With the convention coming up next week, Obama can juxtapose McCain's "let them eat cake" moment by highlighting the compelling aspects of his biography--raised by a single mother, went to college & law school on student loans & scholarships (not daddy's connections), only owns one house, etc--to present himself as an example of the American dream. This, combined with a stirring acceptance speech that reminds people about what is good about America and how the GOP has trashed it over the past decade might leave McCain in a hole he can't climb out of, no matter how much mud and manure he shovels. At the same time, of course, Obama needs to keep pounding McCain as the real out of touch elitist in this campaign. I hope to hear more about $500 shoes and McCain's insulting comment that American workers wouldn't harvest lettuce for $50 an hour. Success breeds success--and if people see that Obama can respond to GOP smears more effectively and vigorously than Kerry or Gore did, then wavering Democrats and Independents will come home & Obama will win handsomely.
Back to Biden. If he's the nominee, then I'm ok with that. Personally, I would have liked Richardson. Imagine what the prospect of having the first hispanic on the ticket would have done to boost turnout. And Richardson has the foreign policy cred Obama need, plus his gubernatorial experience gives him executive experience a ticket with two senators will lack. I also think he would have put the SW even more into play. Biden is better than most, though not without his flaws. He can stick his foot in his mouth and there is plenty of dirt on him for the GOP to dig up. Hell, even I still associate him with the speeches he plagarized back in the 1980s. But he is a safe choice--an attack dog who can pound McCain & leave Barack to focus on the positive message; a foreign policy expert who lets Obama concentrate on the economy; and a far cry from the current inhabitant of the Naval Observatory. This keep the momentum going, even though I think Richardson would have <fake British accent here> "taken the whole campaign to eleven."
UPDATE: It is Biden. NYT
David Brooks will be happy. At least until his next column, when he will trash Biden, quoting people he talked to at the salad bar at Applebee's.