What does the Vice-Presidential selection tell us about the judgement of the nominee?
Was this a good governing pick? Is this person ready to be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office? Was the Veep candidate even properly vetted?
Yes, these are all questions being asked today - about the Democratic ticket.
I've blogged about Biden's gaffe-prone campaign before. But over the past couple of days he has truly excelled himself. Ask yourselves how the American media can look themselves in the face: had Sarah Palin come out with any of these gems the American press would have eaten her alive. But Joe Biden's different, you see; despite over twenty years of campaigning experience the press is willing to cut him a total free pass - because he's running with Barack Obama.
So just for fun, here are his latest comments: first, his denunication of the appalling Obama ad (video in link) attacking John McCain for not using email; McCain cannot type well, tie his own shoelaces or comb his own hair due to injuries to his hands sustained under torture for his country. Biden said to Katie Couric:
""I thought that was terrible by the way," Biden said...
Asked why it was aired, Biden said: "I didn't know we did it and if I had anything to do with it, we would have never done it."
The Obama campaign forced him to put out a clumsy retraction. But there's more... lots more...
When AIG was first bailed out, McCain opposed the move, then as the damage became clearer, retracted. So did Joe Biden. Obama said to NBC's Matt Lauer that his own running mate "should have waited". Financial policy from no. 2 without clearing it with the top of the ticket? Remember, Biden brought nothing to the table - no state, and no clear voting constituency. He was sold to us as a governance pick. Yet his policy is at odds with Obama's, in public and on vital issues.
Like clean coal. Very important to those crucial swing voters in PA and VA. Obama supports it. But lookee here (video), Senator Biden on the campaign trail, passionately defending his environmental record to some campaigner, a young woman - whose neck he appears to touch to make his point. What are the coalmining communities of the swing states supposed to make of these comments:
"We're not supporting 'clean coal.' Guess what. China's building two every week. Two dirty coal plants. And it's polluting the United States...No coal plants here in America."
McCain camp already talking about that.
And finally - please imagine if Governor Palin had said this - the "that was terrible" line in Couric's interview overshadowed this Nick Clegg-esque gaffe on the economic situation:
"When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed," Biden told Couric. "He said, 'Look, here's what happened.'"
As Reason's Jesse Walker footnotes it: "And if you owned an experimental TV set in 1929, you would have seen him. And you would have said to yourself, 'Who is that guy? What happened to President Hoover?'
