Obama-Biden: Most Arrogant Ticket Ever

McCain Should Focus on Most Arrogant Ticket Ever

By C. Edmund Wright (pardon HTML glitch making URL's a tad cumbersome...we're working that issue out....)

The McCain Campaign, along with many media outlets and talk shows, had the Joe Biden sound bytes ready. Afterall, the sound of Biden's voice is, among other things, very pleasing to Joe Biden. Thus, Biden sound bytes are not exactly in short supply.

And it's understandable that among the first salvo's fired at the Obama Campaign's selection of the Delaware Senator involve Biden saying wonderful things about John McCain and not so wonderful things about the "articulate" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013100404.html

black guy Barack Obama. That's an obvious place to start, but it is a strategy with a couple of potential flaws.

First, the idea that former primary adversaries will hook up on the same ticket is not exactly novel. And in every single case where this has happened, the availabilty of sound bytes where the new partners are critical of each other were readily available. Voters have "been there, seen that" and I'm not so sure such a tack has much oomph.

Second, should McCain choose say, Mitt Romney, it might not be in the McCain campaign's interest to have set such a rip roaing precedent of primary back and forth being a central general election issue. Romney is arguably the best choice for McCain for a number of reasons and the timing of Mac's announcement is such that he will not want to blunt any potential Mitt bounce by over-playing this particular issue.

Especially since there is so many more reasons for Republicans and conservatives to love the Biden selection than Biden's pro-McCain and anti-Obama comments. By definition there is no such thing as a humble presidential ticket, but Obama-Biden could well set new standards for self love and admiration on a ticket. These are two guys who frankly are full of themselves. Even among the left leaning inside the Beltway pundit class, Joe Biden's self infatuation is a point of consternation. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/10/AR2006011001560.html

And of course, this mega-ego will now be asked to play second fiddle to "the one(s) we have been waiting for." Obama's messianic complex (which he stunningly seems at times to really buy into) has already been wearing thin on the voting public, as evidenced by eroding poll numbers in a time frame where out of power Democrat candidates usually surge. This erosion has been powered by some clever ads from McCain involving Moses and Britney Spears, but mainly by Obama himself with the ridiculous Berlin "citizen of the world" speech and his undiscliplined and ignorant anti-American, anti-energy and anti-capitalism comments.

So consider: Obama is suffering from the combination of a huge ego that is getting annoying on top of undisciplined "from the hip" comments.  Their solution?  Bring in the only ego in Washington that is comparable in size along with the only set of lips least likely to be sealed when necessary. Biden's love of his own voice is matched only by his love of his own opinions, thoughts, musings and personal history and his loathing of political opponents. If Obama is digging a hole of over-ego and under discipline, then Biden represents another huge shovel with which to keep digging. 

There are already worries in Chicago about how many "oh no...did he say that" moments http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/08/the_case_against_joe_biden.html

the campaign will have to worry about with the Biden selection. You know, moments like "my IQ is higher than yours" or chit-chat about Indian accents at 7-11's or inadvertant use of borrowed speech material. Biden, who cannot turn down an open mic or a red light on a camera, is sure to produce.

And that, along with his massive ego, is the most delicious part of the Biden selection for Republicans and conservatives. There is an old cliché that "arrogance is the only disease that makes everyone sick except those who have it."  This dynamic is in the GOP's favor now. Ronald Reagan ran for President because he loved America. Obama and Biden are running because they love Obama and Biden. This should become more and more obvious in the next 75 days.  

Energy prices, Obama's messianic complex, and the pick of Biden could help a Republican brand in trouble...and turn the Democratic tilt to the 2008 elections upside down.