It really is one of the most potent presidential tickets in a long time. There are shades of Kennedy/Johnson and Reagan/Bush here: The popular newcomer to the national scene joining forces with the well respected Washington veteran, both former rivals for their party's nomination. Only with Obama and Biden there is a genuine respect. Kennedy and Johnson couldn't stand each other, and the first Bush was always cool to Reagan's aloofness and economic policies (never mind that he continued those policies during his one term). But the chemistry is pitch-perfect with this new team. Should they win the White House in November, America's stature around the globe will take a tremendous step in the direction of some much needed healing.With all the gushing I've done over Obama's candidacy these last seven-and-a-half months, it is easy to forget that my first choice for the Democratic nomination was Sen. Biden:
...his command of global affairs is beyond reproach. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Joe Biden has distinguished himself against the incompetent fool currently residing in the White House, offering the only workable alternative plan to fix the mess that is the Iraq War (a loose federal system under which the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds would each control their own territory).The incompetent war criminals currently working in the White House have turned America's stature and leadership upside down. One hundred years from now historians will look back at the Bush/Cheney regime and conclude that their leadership weakened America more than anything Hoover, Nixon, or Carter combined could have ever done. If America is to enter a period of non-dominance, the administration of George W. Bush will serve as the concrete marker of the era's beginning.
The Iraq debacle has cost America a huge chunk of her reputation around the world, and Biden's international star-power would be a huge asset in next year's general election.
With his choice of Joe Biden as his vice-presidential running mate, Barack Obama has sent a solid signal that he intends to do his best to reverse course before we tumble over the cliff the current president has been driving us toward (and that John McCain would drive over with increased speed). With Biden at his side, Obama makes it known that he will surround himself with a team that will give him solid, adult advice; a team that will not cater to his every whim, but rather provide a "President Obama" with all the facts, a solid policy debate, and some good old-fashioned "no" answers every once in a while. Yes...Obama would be the ultimate decision maker, but I for one will sleep comfortably at night knowing he has made his decision based on several different perspectives, rather than having 20 different "yes men" give him the advice that he wants to hear. Turning a deaf ear to opinions that differ from your own has proven to be catastrophic for both the United States and the globe.
And now it's on to Election Day. No matter who John McCain picks as his running mate, the choice couldn't be starker: Competence and a thoughtful steady-hand vs. increased saber-rattling without a thought to the future. In a world that gets increasingly scary by the day, the answer is a no-brainer...
Obama/Biden.
