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8/26/2008
Burri on Biden: It's all about gravitas...
Back in 2000, a presidential nominee had a problem: he was inexperienced, compared to his opponent. Seemed a bit of a lightweight. He lacked a certain personal clout. A certain…gravitas.
So he picked Dick Cheney as his running mate. Electorally, Cheney added nothing to the ticket. Ditto ideological balancing. But he had decades of experience and a resume to die for. He’d been through it, more than once.
Boom. Gravitas. There was a comforting assurance in having somebody like him with a hand on – or at least near – the tiller.
In 2008, another presidential nominee had the same problem, except…well, more so. So he looked around. He weighed his options. And he chose to follow a winning formula: pick the old guy with the long resume.
It may not quite be gravitas. It doesn’t feel like gravitas – although, admittedly, I’m biased. But picking the older, vastly more experienced guy was a winner twice for George Bush and the GOP. Can you blame Barack Obama for following suit?
Biden has been in office since the year Obama turned 12 years old. He spent eight years chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee, and currently chairs the Committee on Foreign Relations. Whatever else we might think of him – whatever else might come to light between now and November – he does have the experience for the job.
That might only serve to highlight the #1 guy’s lack of experience, but…well, it worked for Bush, right?
Biden’s role in an Obama administration is another question. Will he be another Cheney, deeply involved? Or another Al Gore, relegated to whatever table scraps the White House didn’t want?
I guess you'd hope that he’s experienced enough to make himself an active member. Surely, the old warhorse can make himself at home in the yearling’s pen.
So: all in all, not a bad pick. A boring pick, that’s for sure. A pick that offers Republicans plenty of critical footholds. And a pick that’s opened the door for McCain to do something dramatic – something not boring – and steal a poll bump on his rival. But given the criterion I’ve been harping on – experience – a solid pick.
Of course, this must be tough for the liberal true believers to swallow. Democrats chose Obama over Hillary Clinton and the others not because of any qualifications – heck, he didn’t really have any – they chose him because he fired their imaginations. He said the right things, the right way. He was exciting, and liberal, and new. A new toy, making all the old toys – as rugged and lasting and dependable as they were – look…well, old.
Who wants that?
So the liberal nutroots got Obama the nomination, and now…now, we see: shiny newness isn’t enough. Hope and Change aren’t enough. The winning smile, and awesome speechifying, and fistful of uber-liberal talking points weren’t going to be enough, come November.
Obama either knew that, or somebody managed to convince him of it.
Thus, the pick: neither shiny nor new. A decades-long political insider. Safe, but boring. Sober. Responsible. Grown-up.
Granted, Biden’s far from perfect. The GOP and McCain’s campaign will, over the next few weeks, show us just how imperfect he is.
But still: given the shallowness of the Democratic Party’s recent candidate-picking methods, the Biden choice offers reassurance. Yes, the Democrats will nominate you undeservedly, but even they know they can’t elect you that way.
Lance Burri is a contributor to the Badger Blog Alliance and occasionally blogs at his own site as well.
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Blog Archives
| 2010 |
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January
• Solberg: Healing After an Abortion
• Basketball fans eyeing extension of Miller Park sales tax
• Nanny sex-ed bill goes to Doyle
• A first. Village limits pension contribution for employees
• Nanny State update: Toothbrushing mandated
• Obama pushes education inflation
• WI Investment Board votes to borrow to juice up returns
• So Republicans have brought nothing to the table?
• You have got to be kidding me
• Nygren: Governor Continues Terms of Failure in State of the State
• Sen. Fitzgerald: Governor down the wrong track at high speed
• Phosphorus is the new CO2. $Billions in Wisconsin
• More Obama giveaways
• A reprimand? Would you keep him on the job?
• Burri: Sarah Palin for Prez troubles me
• Quote of the Day – Obama after the pie-eating contest
• Populism, abused and trampled
• Fitzgerald: Senate Republicans Propose Real Job Creation Agenda
• Stripped down health insurance – it’s about time
• Ok GOP, scrap the Party of NO; time to lead
• No way Feingold is a Coakley. Is Wall a Brown?
• Burri: Conservatives off the chart for a RINO?
• Paltry quid pro quo?
• Doyle says ARRA has ‘created or retained’ 44,000 WI jobs
• Does most of the public fall for this stuff?
• When you get signatures, always get a couple extra
• Blame it on the outmoded computers
• Scott Brown victory does not scuttle health bill
• 8th Congressional Candidate Forum, Jan. 25
• Scott Walker Meet-and-greet, Monday, Jan. 18
• Aren’t consumers taxpayers too?
• MORE taxes on investment income - dreadful and wrong
• Join the blaze orange army and say ‘Enough is Enough’
• The future of government-run health care
• Tax on banks is a really bad idea
• Roth, Savard on the stump, grassroots style
• Savard speaking in Appleton, 8 PM, Wed., Jan. 13.
• Rahmlow: Savard, Bies frontrunners for State Senate
• Burri: Failing Political Correctness 101
• School contracts and Race to the Top
• Senator Feingold worrisome and big red flags
• Psephological?
• This is really important. Contact Rep. Kagen. Now. Please.
• This is exactly what we need from Governor Doyle
• This guy is my hero
• Why am I not surprised?
• Talk health reform with Feingold (Th), Petri (today)
• Give the Mayor power over MPS - if he can break contracts
• Burri: Yup, Dems really are going to bypass a conference
• The $2.7 billion Wisconsin deficit no one told you about
• Walker launches county accountability website
• Rahmlow: Why is Van Hollen dodging the Nebraska deal?
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| 2009 |
December
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November
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October
• The Lawton-Bader files
• Yup, it’s the TAX LEVY, not the tax RATE
• Ellis: costly automobile insurance laws must be rolled back
• If not Barrett, who?
• The subsidy game
• Burri: Bailouts, Banks, Health Care, and the Mob
• Attend Appleton Schools budget meeting tonight
• A public option WON’T increase costs? That’s delusional!
• Appleton Schools budget meeting Monday
• Wisconsin should be screaming for accountability
• Burri: If anything, we need more obstructionism around here
• WI on the leading edge - in the wrong direction
• Rep. Montgomery: Utility Customers Join State’s Crime-Fighting Efforts
• Public Conservation and Recreation Lands Total 16.5% of State
• In the crow's nest of the Titanic, shouting 'Iceberg!'
• Is Rep. Nelson a political hack?
• Health care: The road ahead will be brutal
• Kagen's pandering again
• Birthers - good stuff for you
• How much do we bend over backward for seniors?
• The trouble with health care is paying for it
• Two-parent families: The Gold Standard
• Burri: Kids... the joys and blessings
• Very, very worried about health care
• Rep. Huebsch: Wisconsin is proof government health care isn’t the answer
• School district contracts push up tax levy
• What? Obama, the Peace Prize?
• TODAY - hearing on Campaign Finance Reform
• Appleton School District tax levy up way too much
• CBO report is out - and the bill isn't even written yet?
• So, how much do YOU budget for health care?
• Burri: Copenhagen trip was amateurish
• “Sotomayor, you have blood on your hands...”
• Cap and Trade. Always follow the money
• Rep. Kagen gets (almost) free health services
• I actually agree with Rep. Kagen
• Future Wisconsin Conference for Conservatives, October 10, Wauwatosa
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| 2008 |
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August
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July
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June
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May
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April
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March
• Important votes Tuesday, including Appleton Common Council
• Democrats are becoming supply siders??
• Further debunking Hillary myths
• WEAC has created an unsustainable monopoly
• From Mark Gundrum: One of the greatest honors an American can experience
• 'Operation Chaos' working?
• Joe Martin the best candidate in Appleton's 8th
• State programs to cut? - Volume II
• Oh the naivete of youth
• Not just disingenuous - flat wrong
• Steve - you will be missed
• Make cuts only AFTER you're elected....
• Getting serious: What programs can we cut?
• Rep. Steve Kagen joining me on Jerry Bader Show today
• Rep. Van Roy: Dental Care Pilot Program
• Has Dave Obey turned the corner on earmarks?
• Speaker Huebsch: Governor turns down Federal Aid?
• Mark Rahmlow: "We're Broke."
• As taxpayers, how do we know if it's a Chevy or a Lexus?
• This is trash talk - about a veteran
• Frank Lasee: Take time to get the Compact right
• 'The Gableman Ad' - is it racist?
• Roth thankful, Kagen shaking money tree
• Gov. Doyle's office not enamored with Freedom of Information
• Governor Doyle will never do it
• Leadership on smoking ban? Not Hanna
• Rep. Van Roy speaks out about smear ads
• You're threatening me about potholes?
• Losing the Hastert seat is NOT a trend and NOT curtians for the GOP
• First suggestion for 'slashing' programs
• Big money-saver for municipalities
• More one time fixes. Nuts.
• Any chances???
• I'm doing the Jerry Bader Show, today, the 11th
• Representative Frank Lasee: Final Waltz of the Season
• Guest Blog: It's not the county's business to be in the nursing home business
• Yup, Hillary won Texas and Ohio
• Gableman/Butler race featured - and it isn't pretty
• Lies from Planned Parenthood and NARAL
• He who sacrifices liberty.....
• Duh.
• The Troha sentencing, Doyle and that $200K
• Guns, passion and "originality"
• How hard is it anyway, to shut down a government program?
• Voting is a PRIVILEGE. And so are property taxes....
• Guest Blog: Governor Doyle, cancel your Ireland trip
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| 2007 |
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July
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June
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May
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April
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March
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February
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January
• Lots of ideas. No money.
• The Cigarette Tax - "Poor Policy Instrument?"
• School budget Lite?
• Frankenstein - not in the library, but in the legislature
• A librarian, a legislator, a president
• $1.25/pack - NO, NO, NO, and NO
• Kagen and Reagan in the same breath?
• Menasha: behind the 8-ball, but not biting the dust
• Any way you slice it, Wisconsin government wants (further) in on health care
• The World is Flat...what about health care?
• The PAC - too precious to fail. Day 3
• News follow-ups: Appleton West, Kagen at the White House
• Fox Cities PAC - too precious to fail - Day 2
• Fox Cities PAC - too precious to fail
• New Transit Tax coming your way
• Rep. Petri has his finger in the dike - I guess
• AASD Retirement Costs Burdensome
• Health care, health care, health care, health care
• Water rate increase was no slam dunk
• Education for all is just a bad dream
• New Year's resolutions from a parade snob
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| 2000 |
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