Biden Being Biden
Biden earned his keep in that speech. The line about John McCain having to worry about which of his seven kitchen tables to sit at and sort out the bills is what Biden does brilliantly — mordant soundbites that can carry a news cycle.
The delivery otherwise was good not great. We also saw a man who’s a bit of a shouter on the stump — he’s much better on the town-hall or TV studio stage, where he doesn’t have to work so hard to sell his engagement with the issues.
One note of concern: I’m not sure how easy it will be to rebrand a polished politician with a penchant for senatorial stemwinders into the straight-talkin’ scrapper from Scranton (nickname “Champ”). Although you had to love it when he introduced his wife to America as “drop-dead gorgeous.”
Overall though you see why this buddy-cop casting might work out really well. The seen-it-all stalwart Biden tells you a lot about what kind of Change the young-gun Obama is really selling. It’s a return to pragmatic, level headed foreign policy. And an economic agenda that’s looking out for cops and firemen.
The McCain camp is now going to have to stretch much harder to paint Obama as some terrorist loving, pointy-headed, anti-Christ celebrity arugula muncher with no capacity for leadership.