Analysis: Obama's pick highlights his weaknesses

By RON FOURNIER
Associated Press Writer


AP Photo/M. Spencer Green
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., and his vice presidential running mate Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., appear together Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008, in Springfield, Ill.

DENVER (AP) -- The candidate of change went with the status quo.

In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness - inexperience in office and on foreign policy - rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions.

"I searched for a leader who is ready to step in and be president," said Obama, a transformational political figure who nonetheless faces criticism about whether he has enough experience to be president.

He picked a 35-year veteran of the Senate - the ultimate insider - rather than a candidate from outside Washington, such as Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas; or from outside his party, such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska; or from outside the mostly white male club of vice presidential candidates. Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't even make his short list.

The picks say something profound about Obama: For all his self-confidence, the 47-year-old Illinois senator worried that he couldn't beat Republican John McCain without help from a seasoned politician willing to attack. The Biden selection is the next logistical step in an Obama campaign that has become more negative - a strategic decision that may be necessary but threatens to run counter to his image.

Democratic strategists, fretting over polls that showed McCain erasing Obama's lead this summer, welcomed the move. They, too, worried that Obama needed a more conventional - read: tougher - approach to McCain.

"You've got to hand it to the candidate and the campaign. They have a great sense of timing and tone and appropriateness. Six months ago, people said he wasn't tough enough on Hillary Clinton - he was being too passive - but he got it right at the right time," said Democratic strategist Jim Jordan. "He'll get it right again."

Indeed, Obama has begun to aggressively counter McCain's criticism with negative television ads and retorts from the campaign trail. And Biden didn't waste a moment to point out that McCain is wealthy enough to forget how many houses he owns.

"He'll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at," Biden said Saturday, adding that he and Obama better understand the worrisome issues that Americans discuss around their kitchen tables.

A senior Obama adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his boss has expressed impatience with what he calls a "reverence" inside his campaign for his message of change and new politics. In other words, Obama is willing - even eager - to risk what got him this far if it gets him to the White House.

Biden brings a lot to the table. An expert on national security, the Delaware senator voted in 2002 to authorize military intervention in Iraq but has since become a vocal critic of the conflict. He won praise for a plan for peace in Iraq that would divide the country along ethnic lines.

Chief sponsor of a sweeping anti-crime bill that passed in 1994, Biden could help inoculate Obama from GOP criticism that he's soft on crime - a charge his campaign fears will drive a wedge between white voters and the first black candidate with a serious shot at the White House.

Introducing his running mate in Springfield, Ill., Obama said his new partner is "what many others pretend to be - a statesman with sound judgment who doesn't have to hide behind bluster to keep America strong."

Biden is indeed a serious, smart politician who will keep McCain and his soon-to-be running mate on their toes. More importantly, he has the credentials to help Obama lead the nation should the Democrats win in November.

"He has brought change to Washington," Obama said, "but Washington hasn't changed him."

So the question is whether Biden's depth counters Obama's inexperience - or highlights it?

After all, Biden is anything but a change agent, having been in office longer than half of all Americans have been alive. Longer than McCain.

And he talks too much.

On the same day he announced his second bid for the presidency, Biden found himself explaining why he had described Obama as "clean."

And there's the 2007 ABC interview in which Biden said he would stand by an earlier statement that Obama was not ready to serve as president.

It seems Obama is worried that some voters are starting to agree.

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EDITOR'S NOTE - Ron Fournier has covered national politics for The Associated Press for nearly 20 years.

It doesn't change a thing.

Obama Bin Laden.

Mr Happy Wrote:Obama Bin Laden.

That's as bad as Obama using the phrase "change" constantly. No substance and it gets old fast.

Well, it seems to me that picking a guy, or gal, with some EXPERIENCE would be the prudent thing to do, dont you think?
It doesn't change the fact that MR. H would find a problem with it God was chosen to be Ob's running mate and it doesn't change the fact that old Georgie boy has sent this country so far in to the shitter that Obama probably will get elected depsite all of his obvious shortcomings.

Mr Happy Wrote:It doesn't change a thing.

Obama Bin Laden.

John McBush II

his whole "change" argument takes a hit though considering Biden isn't new to the game.

I'm glad he didn't select Clinton.

Mr Happy Wrote:It doesn't change a thing.

Obama Bin Laden.

John "I'm the Guy Who Owns Seven Houses, Some Of Which He Can't Be Bothered To Pay Taxes On, Yet Has The Audacity To Call Barack Obama An "Elitist" McShame.

Coopdaddy67 Wrote:

Mr Happy Wrote:Obama Bin Laden.

That's as bad as Obama using the phrase "change" constantly. No substance and it gets old fast.

It never gets old.

Obama Bin Laden.

Mr Happy Wrote:

Coopdaddy67 Wrote:

Mr Happy Wrote:Obama Bin Laden.

That's as bad as Obama using the phrase "change" constantly. No substance and it gets old fast.

It never gets old.

Obama Bin Laden.

John McSame

Ron Fournier of the AP (author of that article) was offered a job with the McSame campaign and considered it. Expecting an unbiased article from him would be similar to expecting the sun not to rise. It's pure bs.

Shenandoah Cat Wrote:Ron Fournier of the AP (author of that article) was offered a job with the McSame campaign and considered it. Expecting an unbiased article from him would be similar to expecting the sun not to rise. It's pure bs.

Link?

Shenandoah Cat Wrote:Ron Fournier of the AP (author of that article) was offered a job with the McSame campaign and considered it. Expecting an unbiased article from him would be similar to expecting the sun not to rise. It's pure bs.

Now I know this guy. He's the reporter that had the embarrassing e-mail exchange with Karl Rove during the Pat Tillman investigation.

oleskl Wrote:

Shenandoah Cat Wrote:Ron Fournier of the AP (author of that article) was offered a job with the McSame campaign and considered it. Expecting an unbiased article from him would be similar to expecting the sun not to rise. It's pure bs.

Link?

http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200808230001 Of course being from a progressive source you will probably dismiss it out-of-hand.

dont know how soo many think mccain will be the exact same as bush..

while he may be from the same party, and have the same basic principles he has been the republican that has questioned bush more than any other.. he might stand on the same side of the aisle as bush, but he wont be the exact same..

if you are upset you dont have to pay as much out of pocket on the 15th of april, then yes i guess you can hate mccain..
if you are upset that we as a country believe our military should protect our best interests.. then yes i guss you can hate mccain..

but other than those 2 and even how we apply both of those.. mccain is as much change as obama.. Mccain might stand on some of the same principles as bush, but that is because of his strong backround as a republican and patriot, not because he "wants to benefit from big oil", or "finish his dads war" as many uneducated think..

while he may not be the best candidate in my eyes.. he sure as hell beats socialist, tax raising, need for the biggest government, can't find my way out of a bag without a teleprompter, radical obama..

for all you liberals out there? Can we make a system where when filing taxes you can simply pick the lower or higher tax bracket.. and then when you mail in your taxes you can send in more money?? If you are soooo all about big government funded by the people.. why not put your money where your mouth is.. and start paying from programs you want.. the government wont tell you they don't want your money..

Poo, the "conservatives" should be asking why Bush continues to write checks and fund this and fund that with no thought toward the budget. My wife could tell you, you can charge things all day long but eventually a bill comes to you.
The GOP says they represent working class America, blue collar hard working people who know the value of industry and saving a dime. They damn well won't fund the lazy or the idle and they have your best interests at heart. Those damn liberals will be murdering babies and raping your bank accounts while they fund gay marriage and run from any conflict. They'll fill up the courts with liberal judges and they'll pay the illegals to have babies.
People are not buying the GOP bulsh** ; they are fed up.

I still don't know who I will vote for, but if I thought McCain was the same as Bush I would have ruled him out instantly. Seven more years of Bush and we might as well declare bankruptcy. Sooner or later, if Bush or whoever does not stop runnng up outrageous debt, somebody will have to raise taxes. Look within your own party.

On aznother note, here's something I paste from a BBC blog:

Would he have made this choice a year ago? Six months? Even a few weeks? Joe Biden is Vladimir Putin's contribution to American politics - he is a necessary antidote to the Obama lack of worldly wisdom, which before Georgia was a bit academic to most Americans or amorphous and unfocused as an issue (perhaps they could take a punt, roll the dice as Bill C helpfully put it) but post-Georgia is back at the top of the pile of concerns.

McCain did well on Russia - he avoided frightening threats but managed to seem tough and aware. He took the 3AM call. Obama needs a pal who can do the same. But something of the Obama appeal has been diminished by the choice - it is going to be very difficult to rail against Washington insiders with one at his right hand. There is also - if Biden performs well - the Dukakis Lloyd Bensen issue, which is, to put it delicately, Why is it this way round: why isn't the able, experienced, reassuring guy the one at the top of the ticket?

thats correct.. he wanted lower taxes.. with an increased spending... not like clinton also didnt run up our national debt though.. soo it really goes back 15 years... i am just stating i would think people fed up with anything bush could look past party affiliation and realize they are not much of the same..

beck Wrote:On aznother note, here's something I paste from a BBC blog:

Would he have made this choice a year ago? Six months? Even a few weeks? Joe Biden is Vladimir Putin's contribution to American politics - he is a necessary antidote to the Obama lack of worldly wisdom, which before Georgia was a bit academic to most Americans or amorphous and unfocused as an issue (perhaps they could take a punt, roll the dice as Bill C helpfully put it) but post-Georgia is back at the top of the pile of concerns.

McCain did well on Russia - he avoided frightening threats but managed to seem tough and aware. He took the 3AM call. Obama needs a pal who can do the same. But something of the Obama appeal has been diminished by the choice - it is going to be very difficult to rail against Washington insiders with one at his right hand. There is also - if Biden performs well - the Dukakis Lloyd Bensen issue, which is, to put it delicately, Why is it this way round: why isn't the able, experienced, reassuring guy the one at the top of the ticket?

The BBC is welcome to its opinion. Obama was still running for the nomination a year, six months, even a few weeks ago wasn't he? I suspect his focus at that time was not on a VP candidate. I don't get the point. Heck, McCain wasn't even on the Republican radar a year ago. And times change, choices change.

Had Obama selected a less experienced VP candidate he would have been criticized for the opposite reason. As far as Georgia, Russia is the only winner. And for me, Obama is reassuring and very capable of being President. I will not be voting for Johnny McCondo.

John McCain - Doesn't know how many houses he owns; not sure what kind of car he drives; mixes up Sunnis and Shiites; thinks the threshold from middle class to rich is $5 million dollars; thinks Czechoslovakia is still a country; Keating Five; pro-choice - anti-choice, etc., etc. Time for a change.

Face it, his claim to fame is that he was a POW. Thanks for your service and sacrifice John but you are clearly way out of touch with most Americans and not qualified to be president.

Pretty sure McCain has been serving this country in the Congress for far longer than Obama has been.