Saturday, August 23, 2008

we'll see


The cable news networks are hyperventilating over the report of one anonymous Democratic official that Joe Biden is going to be introduced tomorrow as Obama's vice-presidential running mate. Not Al Gore, not Hillary Clinton, not Wes Clark, not even Howard Dean or any of the several proven progressives available. I suppose it could be worse and at least Biden is reliably liberal, but he has never seen the kind of republican shitstorm that is headed his way and I worry about whether the Obama stuff has vetted him as hard as the opposition undoubtedly has. I can't help but wonder about his chances of succeeding Obama after whatever his term of office is. The country is going to be descending into increasing chaos over the coming years as the aftereffects of the Bush debacle slowly begin to manifest themselves and the Republicans are going to ceaselessly scream that the problems are the result of electing a Democrat as president. I would really rather have seen Obama choose someone that had a stronger chance of following him into the presidency, even if it meant he had to share the spotlight, but if Obama wins and serves two terms, Biden will be seventy-four years old at the beginning of the 2016 election cycle. We really need at least four terms of a relentlessly liberal and intelligent government for this country to have any possibility of surviving more than a few decades, and two successful terms by Obama would really help the Democratic candidate take office for a couple of more but it's unlikely that Biden will be a viable candidate by then.


However, at my house, Senator Toe Biten is pleased.

7 Comments:

Blogger Mary K. Goddard said...

aaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[girls, quick come here...it's your cousin...]

10:51 AM  
Blogger Mary K. Goddard said...

Back on the original subject...I, too, regret that Obama can't choose a younger running partner but the fact is that we need a winning ticket or it won't matter. If McGoo and the GOP win the whitehouse again, there will never be another democratic election in this country. I fear, if we don't get a hold of the reins again, 2012 won't be an option. On the other hand, maybe we can get this country turned around and bring up a number of great candidates to choose from in 2012.

Let's win the first battle--there's a long war ahead.

3:45 PM  
Blogger Milo Johnson said...

I probably came off as more pessimistic than I am about this. I've long had a personal liking for Biden, but his quirkiness lends itself to right-wing smear tactics. On the plus side, he has had a far better reception than I expected and the big surprise (which in hindsight, isn't such a surprise) is that his Scranton Catholic blue-collar bio is proving to be a BIG hit with the Russert clan, people like Matthews, Barnicle and that whole clique are falling all over themselves that one of their own has been tapped. No matter what, the imperative is to win this election, regardless of who it is, so I am going to support the ticket because it's the only option and now we have to make it the best option.

5:10 PM  
Blogger Mary K. Goddard said...

Yep, and in 2002, Biden can gracefully bow out and let a younger statesman, with a future to follow in Obama's footsteps, get his or herself on to the ticket. He or she can learn the ropes in those 4 years as VP, and carry on as the head of the next ticket in 2016.

It's the beginning of a new hope for this country to be the best that it can be again. But we have a lot of work ahead of us to make it happen.


Now, more than at any time in the modern history of this country, we have a duty to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and get our constitution back on it's feet.

In the words of a young statesman we knew for too short a time, too long ago--ask not what your country can do for you...ask what you can do for your country.

11:19 PM  
Blogger Milo Johnson said...

I wonder how, Constitutionally-speaking, that would work. Does it automatically go to Speaker of the House, is there an election, is it an appointment, or what?

2:53 AM  
Blogger Mary K. Goddard said...

oops..2012, I meant.

Actually, I was thinking, they could just nominate someone new for the VP spot on the ticket for Obama's reelection. I don't believe it's compulsory for the standing VP to be the pick.

9:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Senator Toe Biten
:-)

2:01 PM  

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