Just woke up to find the email from Barack Obama in my inbox, and don’t I feel special: he’s chosen Joe Biden as his running mate.
I’d say ever since Joe gave the reporters staking out his house bagels and coffee, it was pretty obvious to me that Joe was the dude. And he’s probably the best choice, too. If ever there was a guy who would relish the prospect of being the attack dog, it’s Joe Biden, and he’ll be good at it, too. Yes, there is the distinct possibility that he’ll go off half-cocked as he’s done in the past, but there has to be a bad cop to Obama’s cool surface in this election.
Because the more I think about it, the more I think one of the keys to this election is straight up: piss off John McCain. Piss him right off, preferably in a way that makes him explode in a debate.
The walls of the media stronghold McCain has built up over all these years are cracking noticeably. Joe Klien, a long time cheerleader, calls McCain’s “Obama would lose a war to win the presidency,” attack “scurrilous,” which is more than Obama said. The “How Many Houses” gaff – which if the Dems play it right, will be the candidacy-killer quote – was started by by a reporter asking, “how many houses do you own?” That’s not the kind of question you ask a Senator without already knowing the answer and without some indication that he doesn’t know.
So an explosion from John McCain could begin the flood of “McHothead” naratives that would doubtless carry though to the election. This is exactly what Obama needs, because right now, his professorial coolness strikes many as a liability. But when McHothead erupts and we combine it with the Georgia incident and his support for Iraq literally days after 911 and calling his wife a cunt and . . . you get the picture.
So, here’s to hoping Biden can turn the screws without looking like a dick.
