Media Sees Biden Pick as Big Plus for Dem Ticket

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted August 23, 2008.

Politically, Barack Obama's choice of Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) as his running mate is a strong one. Biden, an experienced white guy with working-class roots and a reputation as one of the leading Democrats on foreign policy, does for the ticket just what a VP pick should: he balances out Obama's perceived weaknesses. As far as policy goes, Biden's record, with a few notable exceptions, is pretty strong on most of the domestic issues that progressive voters hold dear. In terms of his foreign policy inclinations, however, Biden is a dedicated "liberal interventionist," which should cause pause among those hoping that an Obama presidency might usher in a dramatically different foreign policy paradigm; Biden is not one to reject American militarism, only to cloak it in a veneer of multilateral cooperation.

Most mainstream pundits are almost giddy about the selection of Biden. David Yepsen writes in the Des Moines Register that Biden is "a solid choice that adds political savvy, national security experience and a pit bull campaigner to Obama's ticket." USA Today's Susan Page says Biden "instantly bolsters the ticket's credentials on foreign policy," adding that Biden, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "is one of Congress' most knowledgeable and respected voices on national security." The WaPo's Dan Balz adds that the senator "brings far more to the ticket than foreign policy experience. He has a powerful personal story... [and] Biden's record in the area of crime and the judiciary is another asset Democrats can point to that will go beyond his foreign policy credentials." Even Fox News grudgingly acknowledged that the "choice shows that [Obama] can exercise good judgment."

In other words, Biden brings with him a degree of "seriousness" that the Washington establishment values highly. By selecting him, Obama has acknowledged that his brand of "change" will be tempered by moderation -- that nothing in his agenda will threaten the status quo too much.

Politically, that in itself makes the pick a good one, and we can expect a week of positive reactions in the media that will coincide with the Democratic Convention beginning in Denver on Monday. The end result will likely be a more significant convention "bounce" than the modest two-percent bump John Kerry enjoyed in 2004.

Biden brings other political benefits to the ticket. An articulate and hard-hitting debater, Biden will do well serving the traditional vice presidential nominee's role of attack-dog, while Obama himself stays (somewhat) above the fray. Despite decades in Washington, Biden's reputation as a straight-shooter who says what he means regardless of the repercussions -- a tendency that has gotten him into trouble a few times during his career -- gives him a bit of an ousidery caché. He is, in a sense, a Democratic version of John McCain, appreciated by the Beltway media for his availability and ability to come up with a pithy quote when need be. He has also long appealed to those much-discussed "white working-class" voters who have so far approached Obama's candicacy with a certain amount of trepidation.

He has some political baggage, with a reputation for grand-standing -- they say the most dangerous place in DC is between Joe Biden and a camera. During the primaries, Biden questioned whether Barack Obama was ready for the Oval Office, saying in one debate "I think (Obama) can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training." The McCain campaign was quick to seize upon the claim immediately after the announcement. It's unlikely, however, that voters are going to make too much of that -- as The Nation's John Nichols noted, "Democrats, and ultimately Americans, should be able to reconcile themselves to the fact of a No. 2 who suggested Obama was not ready to be No. 1. How? By recognizing that in the modern era political-party tickets really do blend into a whole."

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Joshua Holland is an AlterNet staff writer.

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