I wrote a a month ago:
we really, really don't want to pick someone who plugs a supposed gap in Obama's armor. You pick Wes Clark, and people won't see "phew, national security is covered!". Nope, they'll see, "Obama is trying to compensate for his lack of national security creds!" And whether it's Sam Nunn, or Joe Biden, or anyone else who supposedly patches up a weakness, the end result would be what Gore had to endure in 2000 -- "He picked Joe Lieberman to compensate for Gore's 'Bill Clinton' problem."
So now Biden is Obama's pick, and he's clearly not a reinforcing one. If Obama's core message is "change" and "judgment" based on his prescience on the Iraq War vote, well then, Biden is the exact opposite of those things. And the media has reacted accordingly. NY Times:
...Mr. Obama’s choice of Mr. Biden suggested some of the weaknesses the Obama campaign is trying to address at a time when at a time when national polls suggest that his race with Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is tightening.
At the Wasington Post homepage, the blurb teasing their Biden story says:
In a move aimed at shoring up his foreign policy credentials, Barack Obama will share Democratic ticket with Delaware Senator Joseph R. Biden.
McCain's mole at the Associated Press, Ron Fournier, is gleefully at it as well.
Lucky for us, unless McCain picks Joe Lieberman, he's not likely to get a reinforcing pick either. It appears both candidates are headed toward the "plugging a gap" mode of choosing a vice president, as opposed to picking someone who reinforces their core messages.
Biden isn't without his advantages. He's purported to be the least wealthy member of the Senate, which should come in handy when contrasted against Mittens or whatever rich white guy McCain picks as his running mate, especially as the election turns on economic issues and who is most "elitist". And Biden can be a partisan pit bull when so warranted. Given Obama's reluctance to play the partisan card, it should be fun having a real pit bull in the number two position to do some of the necessary dirty work.
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