Jamie

Weinstein

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August 25, 2008

If We Must Get Obama, At Least We’d Get a Grownup in Joe Biden

So Barack Obama's man with the plan is jabbering Joe Biden. But before we get to him, I want to talk about the 2002 New Jersey Senate race.

One of my all time favorite campaign ads was run during that race. The contest started out as one between Republican Doug Forrester and Democratic incumbent Robert Torricelli.

Trailing his Republican challenger and plagued by corruption charges, Torricelli withdrew from the race just five weeks before Election Day. The Democrats somehow were able to put popular former New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg on the ballot even though state law seemed to prohibit such a replacement so close to Election Day. Lautenberg ultimately won the race, snatching victory out of the jaws of defeat for Democrats.

This gets me to the ad. The commercial first showed a young child in school struggling on a test when the boy decides to quit, justifying his decision by saying Robert Torricelli did the same thing. Then it shows a kid losing to his dad in a game of backyard basketball. This boy too quits, declaring "Torricelli can quit, I can quit" and urging his dad to just have Frank Lautenberg play for him. Go on YouTube and watch it. It is hilarious.

I bring this up because I think this would be a great template for an ad the McCain campaign could run against Obama-Biden '08. Let me explain.

In 1988, Joe Biden ran for president. He was forced to withdraw from the Democratic primary amidst charges that he plagiarized a speech by British politician Neil Kinnock. Barack Obama, too, was accused of plagiarism during the Democratic primary campaign. So why not run an ad like the one mentioned above with a student plagiarizing a paper, justifying it by saying, "Joe Biden and Barack Obama plagiarize, so why can't I?" or "I'm not going to write my paper, I'll just have Neil Kinnock do it." Then the narrator would come on and say in that deep, foreboding voice: "Is this the type of message we want our leaders to give to our kids?"

Of course, this would be a tongue-in-cheek ad. I don't even know if it would gain McCain much, but it would be humorous and get a lot of air time. Heck, I just liked the 2002 campaign ad so much I selfishly want to see a reprise of it.

The ad aside, I think Obama made a great move in selecting Biden. Joe Biden is one of my favorite Democrats in the Senate. He is smart and aggressive and a great debater. He is also an idea man. For instance, when the Iraq war was going badly, he actually came up with a plan of action. It turns out the surge was a better idea than Biden's plan of splitting Iraq up into a federation, but at least Biden came up with something when most others in Congress were sucking their thumbs.

Biden also gives the impression that he is an authentic guy. He speaks his mind and in many ways he at least appears to give the same straight talk voters believe they get from John McCain. Moreover, he actually has a great deal of foreign policy experience and is not a starry-eyed idealist who thinks nice words can dissuade evil men from their diabolical schemes.

Now, is he an egotist? Sure. Is he – how shall we put this – verbose? Absolutely. Is he wrong on a lot of issues? I think so. Did he treat Clarence Thomas inappropriately in 1991? Without question.

But Biden is also undoubtedly charming and his love of America is evident. His place on the ticket provides several advantages for Obama, including the fact that if McCain chooses someone like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty as his running mate, Biden will wipe the floor with him in the vice-presidential debate. Other advantages include the fact that Biden is an attack dog who is not afraid to engage in verbal fisticuffs, and Biden's foreign policy experience might help reassure voters concerned about Obama's inexperience.

For all his attributes for the ticket, however, there are also some serious drawbacks to picking Biden. For starters, he doesn't exactly come from a battleground state or a region that he can help Obama win. Sometimes he doesn't think before he speaks which makes him prone to uttering comments that aren't particularly helpful to a campaign. Maybe worst of all, when the voters get to know Biden and see him engage the issues, they may question why the ticket isn't Biden-Obama '08 as opposed to Obama-Biden '08.

On top of all of this, Biden has a thick folder of quotes attacking Obama's experience as insufficiently qualified for the presidency. The McCain campaign has already started to air commercials highlighting some of these gems.

Politics aside, it is nice to know that if it turns out that we as a country will have to live with Obama as president, we will also get an adult like Joe Biden in the White House. Politically, however, I was hoping those reports last week that John Kerry might be a surprise VP pick were true. Picking John Kerry to help you win the working class vote is like picking Andrew Dice Clay to help win Soccer Moms or Mel Gibson to help you win the Jewish vote.

Now the ball is in McCain's court. John Kasich still remains his best choice.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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