It Is On!

Alright, I've been distracted from blogging a lot lately, but there's just too much going on now for me to stay away. We're at the point of the presidential race where we're finally--finally!--getting away from the gassy platitudes and into the elbow-throwing. Obama has chosen a running mate (glad he had to go first so the McCain team knows who they have to beat), and I could not be happier with the selection. If there's a more off-putting, self-important windbag in politics than Obama, it's Biden. Give him a couple of weeks, and he'll make John Kerry look like a folksy charmer.

I'm not alone in my analysis. What say you, National Review's Mark Levin?

I think Biden is a great pick ... for the McCain campaign. Biden has run for president a few times and has never caught on in his own party. He dropped out after Iowa this time around. And when we speak of foreign policy experience, in Biden's case we are really speaking of his serving many years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with precious little useful to show for it.

And from Jonah Goldberg:

I think it is an outright terrible decision on Obama's part to pick Biden. Yes, he helps balance Obama's inexperience on foreign policy, but he also reminds people of it. Yes, Biden could conceivably be effective as an attack dog. But Biden is such a gasbag he makes the Hindenburg look like a sack of rocks. Obama doesn't need to increase his lip-flapping quotient. Biden is a gaffe machine and Obama is bad explaining faults, and his VP's faults will inevitably become Obama's in the Fall campaign. Biden will be fantastic at convincing people already eager to vote for Obama to vote for Obama. His ability to convince the undecided is much, much weaker, in my opinion. There's more than a small risk that Biden will reinforce the sense that this ticket is all about hearing itself talk. I wouldn't be surprised, two months from now, that we'll hear a lot of talk about how Obama's mistake in picking Biden can be explained by Obama's inherent weakness, and love, for talky-talk-talk.

Biden's, and by extension Obama's, weaknesses seem as blindingly obvious as lipstick on the preacher's collar, but liberals never cease to amaze in their ability to ignore the blindingly obvious. It's not the condescension; it's not the Marxism; it's not the partial-birth abortion; no, there's only one reason Obama-Biden could possibly lose. Do I really need to tell you?

If it makes you feel better, you can rationalize Obama's missing 10-point lead on the basis of Clintonite sulkiness, his slowness in responding to attacks, or the concern that Obama may be too handsome, brilliant, and cool to be elected. [Excuse me, my gag reflex is acting up - j] But let's be honest: If you break the numbers down, the reason Obama isn't ahead right now is that he trails badly among one group, older white voters. He does so for a simple reason: the color of his skin.

So there you go: the battle lines are drawn. Democrats are satisfied that they know what's best, and they're going to cram it down our throats. And if we don't smile while they do it, then we're all bigots, who don't deserve such a handsome president anyway. Good plan, guys.