“Obama had not notified his choice — or any of those not selected — of his decision as of late Monday, advisers said. Going into the final days, Obama was said to be focused mainly on three candidates: Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Joseph Biden Jr. of Delaware…Aides said the announcement would come at the earliest on Wednesday morning.” With the convention a week away — I’ll see y’all in Denver — Sen. Obama would seem on the verge of a veep. (Colleague Dr. Vendre gave a concise round-up of the top potentials a few days ago.)
Of late, I’ve swung pretty strongly into the Biden-for-veep camp. I had him pegged as our next secretary of state, but the more I think about it, the more he seems the best complement for Obama in 2008, and particularly now that recent events in Georgia have given the election more of a foreign policy cast. He’s well-known, he’s experienced, he’s distinguished, he’s got impeccable foreign policy bona fides (his Iraq vote notwithstanding, of course), he’s a white male of a certain age, which should soothe those swing voters for whom such stuff matters, and, most importantly, he’s very comfortable in — and, in fact, would seem to relish — the acerbic attack dog role one desires in a #2. (Plus, Delaware’s governorship, while up in November, is nonetheless as safe a Dem seat as they come, meaning we’d keep Biden’s vote in the Senate.)
In short, I think Obama-Biden is a winner. Then again, I’m still of the mind that “Obama-Anyone Not Named Dubya or Clinton” is as close to a shoo-in this year as we’ll see in many moons to come.