Posted by Damozel | Biden? Really? I didn't know whether to yawn or sigh.
I had given up consciously expecting Hillary to be chosen, but like Nader and John Amato, I must have thought he should have picked Clinton. I think Obama will pay a price for not doing so. Fortunately, Bill Kristol sheds huge crocodile tears over poor Hill and "the glass ceiling," which makes me think Obama might have been right after all. Shut up, Bill Kristol. Nobody cares what you think.
But there are other rumblings that I take a bit more seriously. According to CNN, there's plenty of outrage over Obama's choice of Biden over Hillary. To be truthful, I kind of hate him for it myself, even after having given up expectations. It won't lead me to vote for McCain because....I wouldn't vote for the Republican, even against a centrist Democrat who flip-flopped on FISA, wants to expand the death penalty, and is squishy on reproductive rights.
There. I said it. But McCain is just so much worse, ya'll. I don't want to talk to any "McCain Democrats." If you're voting for McCain, you ain't no Dem of mine.
At TalkLeft, Anita Thompson says:
The only people I've seen doing back flips over the Biden affair are Joe Biden and John McCain. A million unlikely voters got text messages at 3am with the "The VP Announcement!" Yeah!!! They opened their texts and saw...What? Joe Biden? Oh. And went back to sleep.
Meanwhile, McCain is going to go for those disaffected working class women. John McCain plans to use Obama's choice of Biden---or rather his not choosing Hillary---in an ad. Wow. That's a new tactic. And not one that is going to do Hillary's career any good if Obama loses, or even if he wins.
“Passed Over” will hit the airwaves at (you guessed it) 3 a.m. Sunday. The timing is a reference to Hillary Clinton’s national security ad during the Democratic primary and the same time the Obama campaign sent out its text message announcing Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden as the vice-presidential nominee.
“She won millions of votes. But isn’t on his ticket. Why?” an announcer says in the 30-second spot.
The answer? “For speaking the truth.”
The ad, which has not yet been released, then ticks off a litany of criticism Clinton used against Obama in the prolonged primary, according to a transcript sent to reporters.
“You never hear the specifics,” Clinton says.
“On the Rezko scandal,” the voice says.
“We still don’t have a lot of answers about Senator Obama,” Clinton says in footage from the primaries.
“Senator Obama’s campaign has become increasingly negative,” Clinton says in another scene.
The announcer closes by saying “The truth hurt. And Obama didn’t like it.” (WSJ)
As Amy Chozick says, McCain's trying to get hold of some of those Dems who weren't thrilled with Obama and who were hoping against hope he'd do what I'd call the unifying thing and choose her as Veep.
In the meantime, Hillary's not happy about McCain's move.
“[Hillary Clinton] has said repeatedly that Barack Obama and she share a commitment to changing the direction of the country, getting us out of Iraq, and expanding access to health care,” says Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand. “It’s interesting how those remarks didn’t make it into his ad.” (WSJ)
As for me, I'm already bored and the convention hasn't started. I'm thinking that disappointed Hillary supporters might stir up some excitement.
It's the way Obama keeps disappointing me---Wes Clark, Hillary...----that I can't help taking my hat off to him for. Every time I think he's going to take a real stand and get me excited about the campaign, he lets me down with a resounding thud. I didn't even realize I was still rooting for Hillary. Deb wasn't---she says Clinton's better off in the Senate.
Your mileage may vary (Adam) and probably will.
But anyway, he's still miles better than McCain, which is sad. There's really nowhere for the progressive to turn.
Memeorandum has more discussion of McCain's latest attack ad here.
Man, the McCain campaign really doesn't have any ideas or inducements to offer, does it? Apparently the well is all dried up. I've got to assume that the campaign knows that McCain's plans for the country would be unappeaing to most voters because it's all "Don't vote for Obama---he's a silly person!" all the time. Speaking of substance---see the ad above---they never give any solid reasons why McCain is better. That's because he ain't.
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Both Biden and Clinton vociferously criticized Obama in the primaries (as should have been expected). Why would Obama pick Biden who can only deliver a few hundred thousand votes, when Clinton can deliver 18 million very enthusiastic votes?!? Obama did not vet Clinton or even consult her on the VP position. How else to interpret this other than that Obama has a personal antipathy for Hillary Clinton? But why would he not also hate Biden? The only conclusion can be that Obama is a narcissist. Despite that the logical and intelligent move would be to pick Hillary as VP, he shoots himself and the Democratic party in the foot to assuage his hurt feelings over Hillary's pushing him to the limit in the primaries.
Barack Obama is behaving like a child and will be spanked in the election for it...
Posted by: Ed | August 24, 2008 at 12:13 PM