Reactions to the Biden pick

By now we know that the Chet Edwards was a head fake, as was the talk of Evan Bayh being Obama's running mate. Instead Obama settled on Joe Biden. Thank you God. You heard our prayers. You know we wanted this general election to be as funny as possible, and You delivered those prayers.

Why do I say that? The Politico's Ken Vogel noticed that the Biden gaffe machine is on the loose already:

Sen. Joe Biden’s gotten a lot of unsolicited advice on how to curb his gaffe habit, but he might start by practicing his running mate’s name.

Three times during his inaugural speech as Barack Obama’s vice presidential candidate Saturday, Biden butchered Obama’s name — in different ways.

Biden called Obama “Barackal Bama” and “Barack Obaman,” as well as — perhaps most bizarre — “Barack America.”

Obama, by his own admission, has a “funny name,” and Biden did get it right at least a dozen times in his speech.But the mispronunciations did not go unnoticed.

The campaign cleaned up the “Barackal” and “Obaman” slips in what it billed as a “verbatim” transcript of the speech sent out shortly after Biden wrapped up. And it replaced the “America” in “Barack America” with an ellipsis.

There was speculation in the lefty blogosphere that Biden’s “Barack America” was a purposeful attempt to portray Obama as some kind of superhero, ala the Marvel Comics’ character Captain America.

But the context makes that seem unlikely.

Biden said: “My friends, I don't have to tell you, this election year the choice is clear. One man stands ready to deliver change we desperately need. A man I’m proud to call my friend. A man who will be the next president of the United States — Barack America!”

And there’s even less doubt that the other two were unintentional.

“Barackal and," he paused and corrected himself to what sounded like "Bama and I believe, we believe with every fiber in our being that our families, our communities, as Americans — there's not a single solitary challenge we cannot face if we level with the American people.”

Later, he said “There’s something about Barack Obaman that allows him to bring people together like no one I’ve worked with and seen.”

Really? Are you sure, Joe? That doesn't seem to jive with past statements made by him about Obama:

“But — and the ‘but’ was clearly inevitable — he doubts whether American voters are going to elect ‘a one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate,’ and added: ‘I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.’” -- From a New York Observer interview.

“The more people learn about them (Obama and Hillary) and how they handle the pressure, the more their support will evaporate.” -- from a Huffington Pos interview.

But I guess that's all down the memory hole now, right? Now that's he with Obama, all is forgiven and forgotten? Bad news Joe, we're just starting to get rolling, and we knew with you on the ticket, you'd help sink Obama. See, folks, Joe Biden doesn't bring anything to this ticket. The foreign policy credentials are shot to Hell when you consider what he thought our response to 11 September should be:

At the Tuesday-morning meeting with committee staffers, Biden launches into a stream-of-consciousness monologue about what his committee should be doing, before he finally admits the obvious: “I’m groping here.” Then he hits on an idea: America needs to show the Arab world that we’re not bent on its destruction. “Seems to me this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran,” Biden declares. He surveys the table with raised eyebrows, a How do ya like that? look on his face.

::Groan:: Great pick, Barry. You've got Deleware in the bag now, and John McCain is on the run, or at least he would be if he weren't laughing his @$$ off right now. And speaking of laughing John McCain rolled out his first ad post-announcement just three short hours after Obama's late-night/early-morning text message to supporters. In it, the McCain camp uses Biden's own words against Obama, and in John McCain's favor. That's the beauty of this election, folks. The ads will virtually write themselves, and the team of "Obiden" just won't know how to deal with a candidate as smart as McCain, with people in his camp that are far more shrewd than the "Chope" campaign has.

Publius II