Friday, August 22, 2008

When You Wish Upon a Star...

Please...please just don't let it be Evan Bayh.

8 comments:

Mike B. said...

I'm not particularly impressed with Obama, but I don't think he's stupid enough to wait until the dramatic last minute to announce a pick that's not only boring but also extremely unpopular with his base.

Unless he's screwed this up, the timing means a big name--Clinton or Biden--or an otherwise dramatic pick like Sebelius.

Thunder Jones said...

I heard that.

Andy said...

Yeah, I have been underwhelmed by the campaign of late and -- I'll say it! Disappointed, even. Where is this high road I thought we were taking? That McCain is unsure of how many houses he owns (zero; they're all in his wife's name) is funny and telling, but it's not a campaign centerpiece.

On the other hand...the Obama peeps beat the Clintons, which is no mean feat (even if Hillary did run a lousy campaign). So for the time being, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt, because all available evidence shows that they know how to play this game.

I think I'd be okay with -- if not wild about -- Biden. I am still clinging to a faint and unrealistic hope that this has all been a massive head-fake, that the campaign has played the media like a cheap fiddle and it's going to be someone totally random and awesome and amazing (chants Andy, "Fein-gold, Fein-gold...").

But it's probably Biden.

Gino said...

biden would be problematic.

his wealth of experience would just expose the weakness obama has with it.

that, and obama is talking change, but would be hitching his wagon to one of the oldest, most status quo guys he can find.

whatever problems folks have with the way washington works, biden is part of that problem.

i just dont think is can be him.
cant be.
obama cant be that stupid, can he?

Andy said...

I don't think it "highlights" Obama's "lack of experience," which is a silly trope, anyway. McCain is a doddering fool who has no idea what's going on in Iraq or with the economy. Who cares about his experience when it hasn't taught him anything? Obama gets it. I don't think we should begrudge the fact that his star rose quickly on the basis of his being smart and capable.

You know, Biden wouldn't be my first choice...but before you start criticizing him (and, I know...you'll protest that you're not partisan, but I imagine it will be a cold day in Honolulu before you vote for Obama over McCain), who is McCain going to pick? Romney? LOL. Giuliani? ROTF. Lieberman? LMAO. Bobby "The Exorcist" Jindal (who is THIRTY SEVEN and has less experience than Obama)? Huckabee? (Please, please, please...) None of McCain's options have anything near the intellectual heft or national credibility of a Joe Biden (again, not my favorite Dem, but...could be worse).

I agree Biden is not the best choice for a "change" campaign, but he's a far better option than anything McCain is facing, and I frankly can't think of many other Democrats (Richardson, Sebelius, Feingold come to mind) that would make sense. Biden does have expertise and credibility on a broad range of issues. We'll have to wait and see. But seriously, I don't think the GOP is going to be in any position to mock Obama's choice. Plus, I think you're right -- Obama and his people aren't stupid. Stupid and careless wouldn't have beaten the Clintons.

Gino said...

i think m cain will pick romney. he was the better qualified of the gop field, and it will help him with (what today passes for) the right wing.

yer right, no way in hawaii am i voting for obama, on any day.

but, i've already decided: i wont vote for mc cain,either.

and come on, andy. its not silly at all to point to obama's lack of experience. its legitimate, and more so,than the democrat attacks on W's not-very-deep resume in 2000.

obama has shown he can wage a campaign against a well financed under acheiver with a string of political failures running because she was somebody else's wife.

yes, he took out the beast. but narrowly. it wasnt a blow out by any means.
obama has shown he can read a prompter. thats about it. the rest is mystery (and high hopes.)

i wont criticize biden for his experience. but i been watching this game since 1976.
and biden has always been that which makes washington what it is.
he's a liar and back stabber, more inclined to play to the cameras with a nice guy demeanor while doing the same opposite of what he said he would do.
in short: he's a politician. and nothing more. if he was from alabama, he would be masquerading as a bible-thump Jesus conservative. and still be just who he is.
and not a true warrior for any cause.

Andy said...

Well, for all Obama's supposed "inexperience," I find it remarkable that the White House has now adopted a timetable (their own word!) for withdrawal from Iraq. He has proven himself prescient and savvy, since 2002 when he first spoke up to say, "This war is BS." (I paraphrase.) It's not as if the President has to make all policy decisions alone in a vacuum; and what presidential candidate is going to be an expert at everything? The question, then, is from whom does s/he take advice? And in that, the difference between Barack Obama and McCain or George Bush is glaring. The GOP advisors -- especially with regard to the economy and foreign policy -- live in a fantasy land; the Bush Administration has been a neocon circle jerk. And McCain thinks that's just fine.

I hope he picks Mittens, too. Biden will eat him. Remember the GOP debates when McCain and Giuliani ganged up on Romney? He looked like he was going to cry -- which was the most personality he demonstrated in the campaign. Romney only appeals to the no-tax Wall Street crowd. The evangelical base will not get on board with a Mormon, and with as much question as they seem to have with whether McCain is a bona-fide conservative, here you'd have him saddled with a personality-free greasy automaton who used to support gay marriage and reproductive rights. Romney as VP is no advantage to McCain, but would probably be a big help to Obama. But then again, McCain doesn't have any better options.

Tee-hee!

Gino said...

OK, so you think obama is a seer.
fair enough, you are welcome to pick your own prophets, and I do believe in religious freedom.

but, his inexperience is not 'supposed'. it is real. he is really inexperienced.
and no crystal ball than change that.

as for mitt: i will find it amusing to see the jesus-wingers rally around the ticket if he is chosen. but, i generally find them amusing anyway.

its amazing to me that the GOP will win this race with what they've put forward.
mc cain sells out the conservatives every chance he gets. and mitt has flipped-flopped all over the place.
if there was ever a time for the right wing of the GOP to abandon the party, it is now.

i guess obama really is a uniter after all.