One Good Joe to Go

Well, so far we are 1 for 1 on Joe's for VP!

Biden is Obama's pick for VP candidate. Lot's being said about the choice, but other than the stuff that made is own presidential candidacy a long shot (the plagarism thing and the verbal gaffs like the one about 7/11) most everything else is pretty positive, even from the other side of the aisle.

The Repubs will hammer on these 2 things, mostly because that is all they have. Although we hold a presidential candidate to a very high standard, my guess is that the plagarism and verbal gaffs won't carry much sway with voters on a VP candidate.

Here is how the chess match of the Election Changes: Repubs are now going to be very challenged to hammer on the national defense chord, because the Dems now have perhaps their most knowledgeable defense guy on the ticket. On the other hand, even though Biden looks a lot more fit and spry than McCain, he is only a few years younger, so the Dems won't be hammering the age issue quite as much.

Biden commutes back and forth from Wilmington to DC every day (I know, I met him on an Amtrak train several years ago) to return to his only home, where he is a daily daddy. He and his wife took a second mortgage on their house to pay for their kid's college education. So he has a long daily commute, owns just one home and is in debt to take care of his kids. You want to bet how much that gets played up to contrast with McCain's 10+ homes? If the battle ground is the moderates in key states, many of whom are blue collars families, guess who just got a big edge?

So how does this choice effect McCain's? Romney is still the best person to put on his ticket, but if McCain does so, it will be throwing gasoline on the fire of his image of rich and privileged. He should probably still pick Romney, but I think it makes a second Joe a stronger possibility. If Joe Lieberman is McCain's pick, he could be the first person to be nominated and lose as a VP candidate for both parties. It would make that October 2nd VP debate a doozy.