John, you are right that Barack Obama isn’t going to get a transfusion of support in Pennsylvania or among blue collar voters by virtue of Joe Biden. To be honest, there are millions of voters who don’t know very much about him, will never see him on the stump and only vaguely remember he was an early dropout in the Democratic primary. Only in the politically-obsessed world in which we all operate is Biden an entirely familiar face.
Moreover, Biden is not all that pristine on the money front. Byron York reminds us that the Senator from MBNA isn’t exactly averse to lobbyists and their money. And just to add a little spice it turns out that Fred Baron, none other than John Edwards’ money man/girlfriend’s financial angel is a large Biden supporter. (The National Enquirer will no doubt fill in the gaps when the mainstream media yawns and asks no more questions about that.) You have to love this quote from Baron: “Joe Biden and I see eye to eye on the way this country should be run.” You’d pay money to watch Biden respond to that. (Especially because it’s Biden – the explanation could be several side-splitting paragraphs long.)
All of this goes to what Biden is not — help in the blue collar, populist battle Obama is trying to wage against John McCain. But even more interesting is the media’s recognition that Biden spells problems in other areas for Obama that are at the core of his present difficulties. Two of Politico‘s pundits list several, including this one which will come as a downer to The Chosen One’s groupies:
He’s a lot more conventional than advertised. Obama has promised a different and more consensus-oriented brand of politics but more often than not has done what most politicians do: switched positions to soothe voters, dodged the unpredictability of town hall meetings and gone for the jugular when he sees it. The Biden pick — the most important choice Obama has made to date in his public career — was safe and traditional. Two male career politicians from the Senate is hardly transformational.
So Biden’s selection aggravated the problem with Obama’s base (e.g. the whole New Politics meme is dying a slow and obvious death). That’s bad enough. But then Obama’s overriding worrying — he’s not passing Hillary’s 3 a.m. test — was highlighted for the entire punditocracy. The Politico duo explain:
He’s insecure about security. The Georgia-Russia crisis amplified Obama’s shortcomings on national security — both his own experience and the perceptions of voters about his own readiness for command. McCain is making that his calling card, and polls show it’s working. Biden offers Obama instant help: He knows this stuff and is more than willing to flaunt it.
Well in addition to providing the instant help, Biden, of course, makes plain that Obama is frantically in need of instant help.
The bottom line: Biden’s supposed benefits are ephemeral and his liabilities in magnifying Obama’s problems are very real. Perhaps that’s why they waited until 3 a.m. on Saturday to announce the pick. Only one more day to fend off that troubling reality before the Convention starts.
When’s the first debate?
“The cabinet appointments have been subject to a disappointing vetting process.”
The same could be said of the President himself.
The problem is the quality (and the honesty – cf Romney) of the possible Republican candidates, plus maybe being stuck on certain positions that actually don’t win elections, but lose them.
Cabinet appointments. Gee, don’t recall hearing anyone around here mention
Bernie Kerik
Harriet Miers
Michael Baroody
oh, not to mention the ones that did get confirmed, like Alberto Gonzales, at a time when no Republicans and very few Democrats seemed to have the same stringent ethical standards.
Or mention the fact that Obama’s administration has come together faster than any in history.
Jennifer Rubin=Tokyo Rose
#4.
I’m no fan of Bush’s. He got some things rights, but made some tremendous mistakes along the way as well.
But Obama ran his entire campaign Changing just that sort of status quo; of bringing legitimacy, honesty, and quality back to government; and, of holding that government up to a higher ethical standard than Bush. One thing McCain had correct in his miserable campaign: Obama was not running against McCain but against Bush. Obama was supposed to be the anti-Bush.
I’m not at all impressed thus far.
My guess is that if Sarah Palin did *not* step up and punch back a few times, the same people who now imply that she is “consumed with past slights” would instead criticize her for being too passive and/or shell-shocked by the personal attacks she and her family endured during the campaign.
………
#1 — LOL!
Jennifer’s right that Romney is winning the post-election. It’s a lead-pipe cinch that if Obama’s riding high come 2012, Romney will be nominated to take one for the team. He’s the one guy/girl without the patience or incentive to wait the Messiah out.
#5 It’s all well and good, no one should be in partisan thrall of their leaders to an unhealthy degree… but let’s look at the situation…
Obama has been in office for less than a month.
Some of his cabinet picks didn’t make the cut. So he’ll appoint others. What’s the big deal– every president goes through that process.
Republicans these days are saying the most nonsensical things about the economy and grandstanding on passing a necessary stimulus package to score political points… as if it’s just Obama that will be hurting if unemployment goes up to 15%. They’re comparing themselves to the Taliban insurgency and Jenny here is talking about the 2016 election as if this is some big ball game.
Truly clueless… or worse.
W/R/T Gov. Palin, there’s also the fact that comments she’s made about the media are just a small part of what she’s saying and doing these days–the bulk of her work is focused on the economic situation in Alaska and trying to decouple normal infrastructure spending from the malignant pork-fat tumor the House Dems have grafted on to it. She’s given various interviews, talking about a lot of different things; it’s just that the media would rather grab what it can grab to make her look bad than fairly report what she’s actually up to.
Oh, and #8: this bill ain’t necessary. Something is a good idea–how about immediate tax cuts and expansion of military projects that are already in process, and thus that would allow the immediate creation of new manufacturing jobs? But this mess can’t possibly be necessary, because it won’t do any good.
# 8
You’re right: the stimulus bill is necessary. All of the crap that Pelosi and her minions–whom she berates when they actually suggest doing something as elementary as, oh, I don’t know… reading the bill!–is not necessary.
While some of those programs might have merit (and most I am sure have none), they should be removed from the stimulus bill and debated and voted on as separate bills–assuming of course that Pelosi would allows such debates to occur. Calling this spending frenzy a stimulus package is absurd to the nth degree.
Again, we were all assured that this type of indiscriminate wasting of taxpayers dollars–and trust, mind you–was going to end in the age of Obama. Sure, he’s been in office for less than a month, and I’m not going to judge the quality of his term(s) as president just yet, but he’s failing this first test miserably. He had a chance to be the hero; instead, he’s playing second fiddle to Pelosi/Reid.
What leadership. What courage. What Change.
Now, Obama’s writing op-eds and getting on the TV railing against Republicans for being such obstructionists and placing the blame solely on their shoulders while neglecting the reasons behind the Republican dissent. So much for putting the childish, partisan bickering behind us. How can the Republicans be faulted for not being pleased with a bill that they’ve had very little opportunity to shape due to the power-hunger of the Democrat leadership, and a bill that has gotten so ridiculously out of control? If the roles were reversed, the Democrats would be just as angry. Indeed, the roles have been reversed in the past, and the Democrats were just as angry.
But that’s just the point, though, isn’t it? Pelosi is so blinded by Republican/Bush hatred that all she cares about now is sticking it to the other side. And this is the person whom Obama placed in charge of crafting the bill. Change, indeed.
So let the Dems have their “stimulus” bill. They need no help from Republicans. They only want Republicans involved insomuch as to provide political cover in the [likely] event that this “stimulus” package fails miserably. Do not mistake the art of covering one’s ass with the promotion of bipartisanship. The two are mutually exclusive.
There is nothing newsworthy in what Romney says. Hell, everyone knows that the vetting process stinks and that Obama gave way to Pelosi and crafting the spending plan.
So, why is Jen going gaga over Romney? Oh, he’s writing a book (same rumor as existed with Palin last week).
And, when the media and bloggers (Andrew Sullivan) spread vicious unfounded rumors about your family, don’t you think a person is entitled to be “consumed by previous slights.”
The entire spending bill is “shovel ready.” Let’s bury it now before it passes.
#8: “…necessary stimulus package”
50% Say Stimulus Plan Likely to Make Things Worse
There’s nothing necessary about making things worse… they are bad enough.
“And he revealed he is writing a book. ”
As told to Hugh Hewitt. The much anticipated sequel to A Mormon in the White House.”
“Cabinet appointments. Gee, don’t recall hearing anyone around here mention
Bernie Kerik
Harriet Miers
Michael Baroody”
Then where were you franglo? I seem to recall plenty of mention – especially re: Harriet Miers – from those evil neoconservatives. Or are you suggesting that we should hark back to these respective people and their transgressions (or negative perceptions) several years ago so as to give Obama a pass now? These people were blasted then. Obama’s people are being blasted now.
Scenario 1: The economy continues to slump and 201K’s turn into 101K’s: The Democrats rule because a stressed electorate will find it easier to believe their nonsense promises. Barry0 gets his second term.
Scenario 2: Whether or not the economy and markets improve, we get hit here and abroad, and Barry0′s response is of course ineffective bluster. General Petraus runs for President and wins big. Lindsey Graham gets groomed for the top job as a fine Vice President.
Oh dear. The presidential op-eds and interviews are dismaying. Obama is going to continue to campaign for four years. Like a newborn staring at its clenched fist (NB: timely metaphor), Obama’s a blabbermouth fascinated by his own blabber; but it’s worse than that. He is going to keep giving campaign speeches to the elite media, keep blathering in print and on air, and then the media is going to go to work pushing the talking points. It got him elected. It’s what he does best – “it” being an elegant snow job – and it’s too horrible to think about. A four-year, speech-class seminar droning endlessly, inflicted endlessly by the media, endless talk heavily foregrounded in the hope that decisions that actually move something will magically precipitate out of the atmospherics. He precipitated millions of votes through yakkery, didn’t he? Surely, he must be convinced, enacting his “stimulus” will be no more than to wake one fine day to find that there’s a bright golden haze on the meadow and that the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye. That sort of thing happens all the time, you know, if you keep blabbering.
PS: We may have elected – Oh God! It’s too awful – a schoolmarm.
Assuming that a stimulus package is a good idea at all, it would be hard to imagine Sarah Palin abdicating responsibility for it formulation to the likes of Pelosi and Reid. There is a lot to be said for having executive experience as a Governor or even as a Mayor. Likewise, t would also be hard to imagine Rommey abdicating in this way. Reading the Presidents op ed and listening to his comments, it is hard to believe that he has any real grasp of economic phenonema. In contrast, in her SOS speech to the Alaskan Legislature, Governor Palin demonstrated a sure-footed and very discerning grasp of political economy and the true nature of thrift.
Among those not so sure they need to wait for 2016, might there be anyone over at the State Dept?