Biden's the Pick

I have mixed emotions about the Biden pick, as far as Obama goes. First off, I'll get the personal out of the way. This was me in an AIM conversation back on February 17, looking over the InTrade market.

4:02:15 PM: i REALLY like Biden at 7.5
4:02:26 PM: like, REALLY REALLY.
4:02:34 PM: there's an offer for 10 Biden at 7.5, which means, $7.50
4:04:31 PM: so i was going to offer to buy 10 contracts at 7.2 points
4:04:33 PM: which is $7.20
4:04:44 PM: the potential return, if i'm right, is $92.80
4:05:14 PM: i mean, i know it's like, "this is how gamblers get addicted" goes...
4:05:27 PM: but i mean, it's $7.20, and i think that those odds are REALLY soft

4:15:43 PM: Biden fits so well.
4:15:45 PM: like, SO well.
4:15:57 PM: biden is a FP expert and did well in debates this year
4:16:05 PM: there will be a VP debate
4:16:07 PM: in the fall
4:16:17 PM: and Biden could wipe the floor with whatever young governor or whoever McCain picks
4:16:50 PM: his only drawback is his home state
4:20:15 PM: like, Al Gore is considered more likely than Joe Biden.
4:20:18 PM: that's INSANE.
4:20:20 PM: INSANE!

Of course, I didn't have the balls to sign up for Intrade, make the bet, and add $92 to my bank account.

My positives hold. Biden shores up the "inexperience" problem, and he helps Obama with elderly voters a bit. He's a foreign policy expert, and he became a great "debater" for the primary/caucus season.

Moreover, McCain's options are limited by the VP debate. He can't pick Sarah Palin at this stage, or Bobby Jindal; he almost has to pick someone with more gravitas and debate credentials, and the two of them are a tad "green," as the term used to go.

The only negative, I think, is the anti-climactic nature of the pick. Honestly, I think the right pick, based on the rollout, would be a "celebrity" (in McCain parlance), someone worth the wait. Biden is no celebrity. He's just a senator from Delaware. Based on the rollout, I feel like the Hillary bomb might have been best. It would have lived up to the hype and flew in the face of the stories that were floating around. Biden's been the "frontrunner" for a good week, and I was actually moving AWAY from my Biden position because I thought that the Obama campaign was hoping for some misdirection at the end.

I like Biden, though, on the whole. I think an Obama from the general campaign - Biden ticket is actually one worth considering a vote for, even from a conservative like myself.