Pufferfish

God Bless the U.S.A.

Conservatives are incensed because Biden said this:

The people who do not need a new tax cut should be willing as patriotic Americans to understand the way to get this economy back up on their feet is to give middle-class taxpayers a break.

We're on strange grounds with this debate. Republicans typically like to dictate the terms of what entails being a patriot, while Democrats cower in the corner. They won't take kindly to being lectured about a topic they like to think of as one they own. Palin gave a tepid retort about how raising taxes means losing jobs. Yawn. Jonah said that equating legal requirements with patriotism is gross. Really?

It's dumbfounding that the same people who wave flags and blindly swear a loyalty to a conservative president (even though his loyalty is to uphold the Constitution) recoil at the notion that patriotism might come with sacrifice. Of course, after eight years of fighting a war on the cheap and being asked to charge more to our credit cards while our president stages some of the most powerful photo-ops in history, it's understandable that people might think love of country should come with no strings attached and feel like a Lee Greenwood video.

We live in an imperfect union and that stretches to the social pact we've made. In a system of progressive taxation, it is the duty of the wealthy to pay more than those further down the socio-economic ladder. It doesn't mean you should be able to have preferred access to the carpool lane or that you should be able to skip to the front of the line at Starbucks. It means in a free market country, where tremendous wealth can be made no matter your starting point, it's admirable, yes patriotic, to give back more to the system that allows for such immense personal economic advancement. This is where George W. Bush has failed this country. In a time of war its been the rule, not the exception, to ask citizens to contribute more. He never did that. Yet here we are fighting two wars while Wall St. crumbles and a detached, unenlightened base of conservatives stammer that patriotism is defined not by actions, but with empty rhetoric. Support the Troops! Um, just let someone else pay for it.

This is a fight Democrats should be spoiling for. Well done Joe Biden.

Who Folds?

Carpenter frames the question coming from the right:

So who is going to fold? Newbie Obama or Foreign Relations Chairman Biden, who absolutely prides himself on his FP knowledge?

It's only folding if you're framing the issue in purely negative terms, which is Carpenter's intent. But if you allow that Obama picked Biden in the mold of Lincoln, his political idol, because he wants a rival to challenge his own worldview then it gets a lot more complex. I'd ask Carpenter if that means Bush folded when he switched from being a strict isolationist before 9-11 to being an interventionalist? And I'd point out Obama has demonstrated the innate curiosity and mental gymnastics that are necessary for the job, unlike the dude currently in office. Anyway, having someone on your ticket with obvious strengths shows security with your own abilities. That's not a sign of weakness.

Sloganeering Done Right

One House, One Spouse: Obama/Biden '08.

Spine of Steel

In July, Biden delivered the rebuttal to McCain's commercial:

Small Town Ditty

Rich Lowry gets it:

What I was most struck by was how much they both emphasized middle-class and economic themes, and how hard Biden went after McCain as a clone of Bush. I assume this is a preview of the Democratic convention, and if so, it's exactly the right approach.

There was almost nothing about foreign policy in those two speeches. This was directed at union workers in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. And most of all it was about recasting Obama as the American dream. Biden said repeatedly that the two are joined by their profound love of country and hard work. Obama doesn't have a John McCain problem. He's had a Middle America problem. There's hesitancy, a bit of trepidation with the new face. This campaign has some edge to it now; the edge embodied by the working class in Middle America. I love the moxie.

A Shallow Thought

Obama not hitting back too hard the last few weeks makes all the more sense after the Biden pick. He's maintained the high ground and not tarnished his image, though he has given up a few points in the polls. But the public has noticed McCain going negative. There could be a price to pay for that later. And now Obama can let Biden take pot-shots, like congratulating McCain on his 72nd birthday next week with a quip about being amazed that he can keep up such a busy schedule at that age. Of course, Americans want to see Obama willing to fight for the presidency and he needs to show more desire. But when it comes to getting dirty Obama can talk softly. And instead, he can let Biden carry that stick.

Why We're Going to Enjoy This

A Team of Rivals

The only rule when it comes to picking a veep is don't fuck it up (Bush-Quayle). Obama definitely didn't do that. Biden has street cred and where his attack dog style isn't necessarily what you want in a president it's exactly what you want in the No. 2. He's also a direct response to the attacks from McCain over the last few weeks. Biden has a way of sounding intelligently pissed off about Republican stupidity that will serve Obama well. But this couldn't have been an easy pick for Obama. Biden will be a handful. He was critical of Obama's experience in the primary, will look stronger on foreign policy and could threaten to shrink Obama in the gravitas department. They are not friends. Obama has picked a rival. Conversely, that says something about Obama.

What Biden brings is the Dems strongest voice on foreign policy; he's Catholic, and Obama needs to shore up that Appalachian union Catholic base that gave him a headache in the primaries;  he sounds like the blue collar guys from Pennsylvania and Ohio, where he'll play very, very well (much better than a transparent phony like Romney); sure he voted for the Iraq war but his criticism the last few years has been some of the harshest from the left; older people are completely enthralled with the guy, including my dad, who loves Biden's brutal, brutal honesty; and he will bring a machete to this knife fight. There's not a better hit man in the Democratic Party. Romney better strap on that helmet hairdo extra tight. Here's other reactions:

Tomasky:

One of the qualities for which Biden is known and presumably for which he was chosen is that he's not afraid of Republican attacks and is willing to answer them in kind. Given that the last three weeks consisted of nothing but Republican attacks, it would have been awfully handy to have had Biden around to answer them.

Ambinder:

But if Obama were overconfident, if he believed that his personality and story alone were enough, then he'd have chosen someone less threatening.

Fallows:

The subliminal message in [Biden's] pose is: I know what I'm talking about here, I've dealt with this for years, and I have no time for the other side's ignorance.

Jonah:

Another possible, perhaps even likely storyline: Barack Obama has just picked his Dick Cheney. 

Silver:

Older voters like him, which means that Pennsylvania probably isn't a swing state anymore, but that Florida might be.

Cole:

[Biden] I rate as the person most likely of all the VP possibles to call Mitt Romney an asshole. Others are hoping for a casual “m____ f_____.” Either way, I call that a win.