Obama picked Joe Biden, at midnight on a Saturday.  Weak.

I’ve noticed an old practice politicians have employed has become more and more common.  Bury the bad news on a Friday afternoon and announce big plans on a Monday morning.  Last monday I was expecting Obama to announce his pick simply because his campaign has been so disciplined about following this doctrine.  The timing of this pick could simply mean that Obama didn’t want to knock the Olympics off the front page…but the Olympics are on the sports, not political pages.  The last politician to announce news on a Friday was John Edwards, and that was to hide his shame and embarrassment.  See that is kind of news you announce on a Friday.  Either Obama is embarrassed to pick the guy who called him articulate and clean, or, more likely, his other options didn’t pan out.  Here is my email from yesterday morning to a colleague who shall remain nameless after he suggested it was Biden or Kaine.

Smart money is on Kaine.  My buddy in Virginia says that really puts Virginia in his column.  Biden, goodness how depressing would that be?  Biden made no headway as a candidate, so what does another old Senator bring to the table?  I have to think Hillary is waiting until 2012 during which she may have a much easier primary, making her ascension much more Nixonian.  Sadly for America, 4 years of McCain followed by 8 years of Clinton is a likely scenario.  Kaine may be the only Veep pick with an impact besides Clinton.  If Clinton buys in Obama certainly wins but she won’t go and he won’t ask.

I have a feeling we have a 1 term president either way here, with far too many problems inherited from this admin and congress.  It’s hard being #1 and Americans simply aren’t willing to work hard enough to stay on top economically, I fear.  No amount of government bailouts can change that.

Ok, perhaps I should have wrote, “Obama’s smart money would be on Kaine.”  Hilary is running again in 2012, the purpose of which seems to be to keep Fox News and the rest of the right wing media in business.  I hope I’m wrong about McCain being a one term president, and a one-term pledge by him would be very foolish…two years and he is a lame duck, people.

Besides Hilary, Kaine was the only pick to bring any impact to the table.  He’s young, but I doubt that would hurt the ticket much.  Biden is merely a sacrificial lamb here.  The primary season showed us that bottom up support, which tends to support local mayors and governors, trumps broad based top-down (e.g. media driven) “consensus”.  Consensus said HIlary and Guiliani were supposed to be the nominees.  And the Senatorial consensus on Obama was upset time after time in Massachussets, West Virginia, and other states.

Now, if McCain were cynical and a bean counter, he’d pick Sarah Palin, because we all know white women scream like Banshees in fear of the Irack Hussein Osama!  I don’t think McCain is that simple minded.  McCain will pick someone he likes who he can trust…I think that rules out Romney, though he is a real team player and would be a good attack dog.  His business acumen would be a real asset that McCain acknowledges he needs.  Sadly it seems that he’d pick Lindsay Graham, simply because the guy is McCain’s wingman.  Period.  McCain is a pilot and he wants a good wingman.  So to all the governors out there, buzz off, this is an executive race about legislative power.

This is what happens when you read a speech from a Senator about Iraq that actually makes a little sense. A few months later, he’s back to his old self, because he’s obsessed with his prospects for President.

This is why if I were to support a Senator for President, the most tempting prospect at this point would be Barack Obama. Assuming he is what he claims to be, and his attitude is genuine, I would simply pray that 4 years in the Senate isn’t enough to morph him into that odd creature that is a Senator.

One has to operate from the assumption that they’re not just born this way…there is something that happens in that chamber, something that hinders their ability to tenor their speech, except as it pertains to focus groups and interest orgs. An election year…or two years…almost precludes the possibility of actual conversations to occur, without the allure of the Oval Office hanging in the air.

And Biden is by no means the worst–even though he loves to hear himself speak, he (as I’ve pointed out is my favorite trait of his) at least speaks the English language, unlike Mr. Kerry whose Senatese has been so refined as to become unintelligible.

Perhaps it’s just a Senate thing (as perhaps your average Representative doesn’t have quite the same reputation), but it does illustrate why Senators make terrible Presidential candidates. In addition to all the deal-cutting necessary to garner voting records that anyone could pick apart, they have a serious problem expressing themselves without slipping into the blah, blah, blah…

However, executive types (Governors and Mayors) have mastered the art of making decisions instead of compromising, ducking, dodging, and hedging.

So those who want a Republican to win the White House in ‘08, Romney and Giulliani are probably your best bet, and I suppose Bill Richardson is the best bet on the Democrat side. Because the Senators (even if they say just want to “chat”) are just simply going to blabber their way to 48 percent or so.

washingtonpost.com