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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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| 2009 |
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• The Lawton-Bader files
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• TODAY - hearing on Campaign Finance Reform
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• Important votes Tuesday, including Appleton Common Council
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• Speaker Huebsch: Governor turns down Federal Aid?
• Mark Rahmlow: "We're Broke."
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• Frank Lasee: Take time to get the Compact right
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• First suggestion for 'slashing' programs
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• 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
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• Lies from Planned Parenthood and NARAL
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• Lots of ideas. No money.
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• AASD Retirement Costs Burdensome
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