WP, E. J. Dionne: What Biden Brings With Him

[DeepModem Mom]

What Biden Brings With Him
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Monday, August 25, 2008; Page A17

....In selecting Biden, Obama has signaled clearly what this week's Democratic National Convention will be about: He intends to move aggressively to ease the problems that have worried so many Democrats in recent weeks -- problems, it turns out, that Obama is worried about, too.

One of them concerns the limits of Obama's appeal to the white working class. Biden's unveiling was one long ode to line workers, cops and firefighters, to hard work and struggling families, to shuttered steel mills and lost manufacturing jobs. Obama has chosen as his running mate someone who said many years ago: "We wonder why it is that blue-collar workers, who come from a heritage that is the Democratic Party, began to leave it. It's because we really don't respect them." This week, respect will be theirs and attention will be paid.

Democrats worry that Obama has been insufficiently aggressive in going after John McCain and insufficiently attentive to the imperative of linking McCain to George W. Bush. In private as well as in public, Biden is genuinely angry about the effect of Bush's policies, and he demonstrated in his debut performance how eager he is to go on the attack against both the president and McCain. There is nothing dainty in Biden's approach to politics. "He's a happy warrior, he loves the whole thing, but he'll punch you out," a Democrat who has known him for decades said Saturday. There will be nothing dainty in how McCain and Bush are dealt with during this week's convention.

Another theme of the week, or so Obama's lieutenants fervently hope, will be reconciliation with the millions in the party who rallied to Hillary Clinton. The Biden choice may have salutary effects on this front that have gone largely unnoticed. After Biden ended his own presidential candidacy in January, he declined to endorse either Obama or Clinton. Instead, as the two rivals battled on without him, Biden was regularly on the phone with both of them, he told me earlier this year, offering views and advice and sometimes just comfort. Each candidate knew he was talking to the other. Each trusted him....

Biden will also broaden the range of advice Obama is receiving. "Nobody has as many ties in the foreign policy establishment as Joe does," says one of his friends. These ties will now be Obama's.

By selecting someone more for his qualifications than his ability to deliver a contested state, Obama pushed back hard against the McCain campaign's efforts to paint him as someone who puts "party, politics and self-interest" above national security. The Biden choice is about governing, not just about winning an election....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/24/AR2008082401855.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[opihimoimoi]

1. TEAM O is gonna DO IT....the cards are the right ones...played to perfection so far

McPOW is fucked...the POW Card is torn and withered from over use.,..he has nothing after that...he being a One Card Johnny is McScrewed

[calimary]

2. Nothing dainty. NOTHING.

Damned well better not be.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-Noun-A-Verb-and-P-O-W-by-Mary-Lyon-080823-951.html

My take anyway. I'm with Kos - who said it warmed his heart to think of a Democrat going after republi-CONS with a proverbial 2x4.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6734053

[ocean_grrl]

3. I am depressed.

I think Obama made a big mistake. I have been a die hard Obama fan since before he was running (as a single mom who has NEVER donated to a campaign, I gave him as much money as I could -which wasn't very much - because I wanted him to win so bad), but I am getting more disappointed by the day. He is allowing "the machine" to change him. I think you have to make certain concessions to win a country of idiots who believe what they see on TV and DO hide behind their guns and religion to avoid the real issues, but I don't think compromising your values is necessarily the way to do this.

A concession he should have made is to have chosen Clinton as VP. She is annoying as sin to me and I don't like her that much, but she is intelligent and gets stuff done. If he had chosen her there is no doubt they would have won. Now I actually don't think he is gonna make it. I think it will be a narrow margin for McCain winning. If Obama had actually bitten the bullet like Kennedy did, and selected his "opponent" magnanimously and with out all this power tripping stuff I am seeing with Biden, we would all be winners.

Change is looking more like "more of the same." What was elated enthusiasm is turning into *huge sigh* apathy and disillusionment. And it is a shame. I wish he had stuck more to his original vision.

I have been so disappointed about his choice and continued concessions. Like Nader, I actually thought this was all a charade and he would choose her. Biden???? How completely uninspiring. I mean the guy is a straight shooter etc... but he is more of the "same." And has far too much of a militarizing sway for my tastes. Now Obama is saying things like he is going to take a hard stance with Iran etc.. .what ever happened to his stressing diplomacy? The only way to stabilize a country is to include it and support it. Not continually slam it and tell it what to do. Mutual respect? At anyrate now I totally digress.

But *sigh* does anyone else feel deflated? Any cheering words or perspective?

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Hi, ocean_grrl -- welcome to DU!

There are many here who have disappointments and disagreements with our candidate and his campaign. Do be prepared, however, when posting these thoughts to be met with some unkind responses, and even with suspicion about your motives and true allegiance.

I don't agree with this kind of thing myself -- because I believe in both honesty and realism, even with regard to our own candidate. I understand, on the other hand, the advantage for all of us in keeping a positive attitude, in presenting our candidate in the best light, and in supporting each other.

Just a heads-up -- and, once again, a welcome!