In this morning's blog headlines, Rosenthal exclaims, Powers questions, I shrug.
For one brief shining hopeful moment, I thought maybe the delay in Obama's VP announcement yesterday was a result of some staffer reading the Madville Times, slapping his forehead, and shouting "Herseth! Why didn't we think of that?!"
Yes, I'm a dreamer... and that's just the problem. I want politicians who inspire us, who challenge the status quo, who defy expectations and exhort us to do the same. At the very least, I'd like my politics to have a little drama, a little surprise.
Instead, I get Biden. An insider. A pragmatist. Another Senator. An old white guy. A pick that shows a lack of confidence in the message of real change. A guy who voted for the Iraq war, just like Clinton and McCain (have fun selling that one to the kids who got all excited in the primary season).
I know, I know: if it's difference I want, I already have a Kenyan-Kansan who'll give the rednecks among us a wonderful four to eight years of re-education. And campaigns are about winning, not about dreams or philosophy. If I were Obama, I'd have said, "Darn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" and picked Dennis Kucinich as my running mate. Now that would be Change... and that would be why I'll never be President (of the United States or the school board!).
I understand you don't pick a VP to ignite a revolution; you pick someone you can work with who shares your goals for the country. I'll read up on Biden; I'll find out he's fine. He's realized his vote for No Child Left Behind was a mistake; he opposes drilling in ANWR; he supports Roe v. Wade; he's got foreign policy chops... hey! He even voted to strike telecom immunity from this summer's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance bill, and when that effort failed, voted against the full bill (unlike his running mate)! Good man!
Politics isn't drama. It's getting things done for the good of the nation. And the policies promoted by the Obama-Biden ticket will do more good for the country than those promoted by McCain-TBA.
But at this moment, I can't help feeling disappointed in Obama's choice of Biden. The mass text message announcement was clever PR, but instead of shaking folks' cell phones with the announcement, Obama could have shaken up the status quo with a bolder, less conventional VP choice.
Update 10:45 CDT: For the perspective from someone usually on the other side of the aisle from me, see NYTimes's David Brooks, who says Biden is exactly the VP Obama needs.
Yawn. Biden, Herseth Sandlin. Same sides of the coin. Neither managed a program, balanced a budget, etc. The problem with congressional folks is they got where they are by lip-servicing the target and not really accomplishing anything. But now we know that former executives with no vision (Bush 1) and with lousy vision (Bush 2) are worse. I suspect the "change" will merely be going from lousy disaster to smack, dab mediocre.
ReplyDeleteWe'll know by mid-February. If we have a "moon-shot" event (like energy self-sufficiency, troops out of Iraq in 2010, etc.), then we'll have change. On the other hand if we stumble along with nuiance and 200 word sentence "explainations" then we'll muddle through mediocrity. (See Charles Blow's oped in the 23d Aug NYT.) I want to be wrong, but prepared to muddle.
I'm underwhelmed by the Senator from MBNA as well.
ReplyDeleteI think Joe Biden is a fine choice. This business is about winning. If Obama does not win, all the little details become meaningless. This choice shows that Obama knows the score. Now I know that he is no idle dreamer. He's solid!
ReplyDeleteObama already has some old-school Democrats spooked. With Biden as a running mate, much of that fear should be mitigated. Heck, Obama might even get guys like me to vote for him. I like Joe Biden, especially his parched wit.
Long have I admired Joe Biden, but his bio reflects a less than stellar student ranking close to George Bush (yikes) and many questionable statements. Still, he's like a lovable uncle easily forgiven, not entirely unlike my former impression of McCain (till he got nasty and apparently ambitious).
ReplyDeleteBiden is only four years older than Kucinich (66 vs. 62). At what point does Dennis become an "old white guy"?
ReplyDeleteTouché, Joe! You offer a good reminder that diversity is more than age, skin color, and sex. The most important aspect of diverstiy in politics is ideas... and Dennis would have brought that diversity in spades.
ReplyDeleteI adore Dennis K. He's a spit fire patriot and by golly, if Obama would have picked him that would be change I could believe in. Nice suggestion.
ReplyDeleteLet's look past the names for a moment. This pick is very good for South Dakota. If Biden is VP then he will no longer chair the Foreign Relations committee. Dodd the second ranking Dem would then take that chair, thus giving up his chair in the Banking committee. As a result the second ranking Dem. on the Banking committee would become the chairman. That Democrat is... Tim Johnson! There you see, picking Biden is a great choice for South Dakota.
ReplyDelete