Tips and all that....

Hey, we could do worse?

Bobby Jindhal? Mitt?

RUDY? BLEECH, glad I am a Democrat!

I could live with Joe.

So could I.  I like the one liners.  I like his intelligence and knowledge of foreign affairs.  I like his debate prowess.  I like that he attacks Republicans.

Also the plagiarism thing was super lame--I don't know why the press bought it at the time.  If you read what Biden said, it was similar in tone, but no where near as identical as some stuff in this campaign that everyone was happy to overlook, including me.

I definitely blame Joe B less for the "senator from MBNA/Bank of America" thing less than most, because they are actually his constituency, and I never dump on a Senator for representing his state.

As a person from CT, I have had enough of a Senator who represents only himself, namely Lieberpuke, and claims that by doing so he is claiming some high moral ground.  Blechhhhh.

Clark, Hillary or Biden would all be good with me.  There are also some others.

But not Bayh.

on Biden and his issues with criminal justice reform; she has a long list of his conservative stances on criminal rights, though that probably won't actually be a disqualifier for Obama (though you never know, Obama has worked on these issues for much of his state senate career).

I'd be fine with an Obama/Biden ticket though it would be sad to lose the support of Jeralyn Merritt, the best progressive voice for criminal justice in the blogosphere.

I like Biden too. I think he has been very effective attacking Bush. He would be my third choice. Rec

I would not complain about a Vice President named Joe Biden.  I would not complain about a President named Joe Biden.

I like Biden and I think he offers sharp insight with foreign affairs - a real deficet that Obama has right now.

However, I think communication-wise this is not possible.  The Obama campaign is about marketing a product, and as such, they maintain extremely tight control over all communication and messaging.  Joe Biden has about as much control over his mouth as Bill Clinton does, possibly less.  He will go off-message in a heartbeat.

My top five for VP:

1. Hillary Clinton
This pick says unity, but also allows the RNC to use all of Hillary's primary attacks on Obama (and they've already started)

2. Wes Clark
This pick says we won't be bullied on foreign relations issues, but will draw the ire of the pundits

3. Joe Biden
This pick will be gushed over by the sunday morning crowd, not to mention the PWNAGE that comes in the VP debate, however Biden's foot / mouth problem could be costly

4. Ed Rendell
This pick says I want a skilled administrator as VP, but also tells PA "good luck with Governor Knoll (ugh)"

5. Brian Schweitzer

This pick says I like crew cuts, and I'm not coming for your guns, but I don't know enough about Brian Schweitzer to keep going.

I think Biden would help Obama a lot with the constituency he struggles most with, the older voters.  They really want to see a familiar name around the ticket, someone who they feel comfortable with.  Biden brings the Hillary quality to some degree without actually being Hillary, which you may see as either a bug or a feature.

As for being the Senator from MBNA, shrug, virtually everyone has home-state interests that they suck up to, Obama included.  What's more telling to me is that Biden has been in Washington forever and still has a negative net worth.  That's someone who takes public service seriously, that's not someone like Ted Stevens who has federal contractors building swanky homes for him.  I think his head is on straight in that regard.

I don't care about the gaffes, to me that's something only the media gets in a tizzy about.  Most people like someone who is a little unpolished from time to time, and usually when Biden shoots off his mouth he's a force for good.  As for plagiarism, that is really really old news.  Who is going to vote against Obama because his VP was once accused of plagiarism?  Really uptight college professors?

Bottom line is I think the positives easily outweigh the negatives, and unlike a lot of names I'm confident he would actually make a difference in getting Obama elected.

He's not very progressive in some areas.
Progressive Punch rates him as the 29th most progressive Senator, based on votes in 14 different categories (Environment, War and Peace, Housing,Labor, Justice issues, etc.)

http://www.progressivepunch.org/members. jsp?search=selectName&member=DEII&am p;chamber=Senate&zip=&x=55&y =11

I'd really like to see Obama pick a more progressive VP, but if it's going to be a conservative Democrat, Biden is definitely the best pick.

I've always liked Biden.  Phantom rec.  I'd actually forgot about him.

better than Bayh

I like Joe.

But he doesn't bring a state.

I'm thinking this will be much closer than we think.

We need to take a McCain state.

The reason why I know it is Biden is because Biden's son Hunter has given up his position on the hedge fund company that he and his uncle owns today.  That speaks volumes to me.  Either tomorrow or next week we will be getting a text message saying it is Biden.

Better than Bayh or Kaine.  Would prefer Sebelius or Richardson though.  I'm not of the opinion that a VP pick must be made exclusively for regional appeal, but come on...Delaware?  It's no fault of Biden's that he happens to represent a tiny, solidly Democratic state, but a VP pick must at least move some electoral votes towards us just by basis of home state.

Question? Would Clinton as VP win Arkansas for Obama?

WashStateBlue--not to brag, but you are describing my diary!  I am more convinced than ever that Biden is indeed who we will get.  Save an occasional loose tongue, Biden is the perfect candidate.

I don't believe Obama should, or will, disqualify someone as talented as Biden on the basis of his AUMF vote in 2002, by the way.  We know Obama is smarter than that.

I like Biden too.  Clark is my second choice.  I don't have a third choice.

I like Biden too and all, but what about his nutty idea for partitioning Iraq?  Don't you think he's going to have to disassociate himself from it?

That's going to be kind of hard, because he's gone as far as accusing people who disagree with it as not understanding the situation.  So it's not the easiest thing for him to drop.  The alternative is for Obama to adopt it, which is even worse.

HRC is still my #1 choice for VP, hands down.  Easy.  I still very much think that Obama could steamroll into the White House with HRC attached.

I DO like Biden, however, and he ranks #2 on my list.

- Matt

Biden is a WarDem. But Obama may decide that other factors override the ability to question McSame's judgment, which he will forfeit by choosing anyone who voted with Bush/McSame to invade Iraq.

I hate to do this. I really do.

I like Joe. A lot. He's my senator. He's way, way better than Carper, and one of the good guys, for certain.

But his gaffe problem is worse than you think.

http://www.delawaregrapevine.com/12-07bi dencrash.asp

Read that, and tell me seriously that Biden's embellishments aren't an easy target for the GOP.

The man who singlehandedly derailed opposition to the appointment of Clarence Thomas?

He's a weenie.