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• Regarding Education
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• Late Night Punchline Imbalance: the details undermine the headline
• Better questions about climate change

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On Barak Obama and Joe Biden

My thoughts on Barak Obama picking Joe Biden as his VP candidate can be summed up pretty nicely with a couple of links.

First this AP article by Ron Fournier:

The candidate of change went with the status quo.

In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness — inexperience in office and on foreign policy — rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions...

So the question is whether Biden's depth counters Obama's inexperience — or highlights it?

This is exactly what I have been waiting months to say. The Obama buzz has been about youth and change. But for all the talk of "youth and change" and being opposed to Washington insiders, and for all the talk of somebody like Tim Kaine on the short list, I think it was obvious that Obama would play into the criticisms about his inexperience by going to somebody old and experienced (just like Bush did in 2000). This campaign is not actually about "youth and change", it's about power--just like any political campaign. "Youth and change" was a vehicle, and the Obama camp has exited that vehicle like a commuter arriving at the train station.

If Obama had actually believed his own "youth and change" hype, he would have selected some young outside-the-beltway type like Tim Kaine or I don't know who else, and he would have faced head-on the charge that he is too inexperienced to be the President (a charge made not only by the GOP, but also by Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and many Democrats).

By dodging that attack instead of taking it on directly, he admits its validity. Period.

Link #2 is to Dale Franks, who has a few great quotes from Joe Biden that you really have to see. It's possible that Obama thought it was too obvious to have to tell his vetting committee to avoid candidates who love McCain and have criticized Obama's qualifications. Oops.

The bonus link in today's post goes to Patrick Ruffini at the Next Right, who points out that Biden is the longest-serving legislator ever on a national ticket, for any party.

Vehicle for sale: Make: Audacious Hope; Model: 2008 Youth and Change; runs great!