[DNC] The Senator from Scranton


Why Joe Biden’s Pennsylvania roots mean more to Obama than his foreign policy cred.

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Aug. 27, 2008–One of the most remarkable things about Barack Obama’s choice of Joe Biden as his vice presidential nominee—apart from the fact that he managed to keep it secret—is that in this remarkably contentious election season, it did not seem to anger anyone. That is a remarkable feat for a party so desperate to win and for a man who has been around long enough to have made more than one generation of enemies.

Even the anger of die-hard Clinton supporters over the choice was not about Biden but about them.

With all his well-documented strengths and weakness—the elder statesman, the brawler, the survivor, the Regular Joe—Biden was the ideal choice for splitting differences; he gives everybody a little bit of what they want, most of all Barack Obama.

Tonight, Joe Biden will need to demonstrate why Obama did not make a mistake. After his speech, debate will proceed apace about what Biden brings to the ticket and whether it is what Obama hoped for. The choice may be a simpler and more pragmatic one that it seems.  >>>Read More


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