Obama Says it is Biden, I Say More of the Same

Addition below

I understand Obama picking Joe Biden for his foreign policy expertise, but other than pandering to the independents and the hawkish center for their vote, Biden has got to be the most uninspiring pick for a VP Obama could possibly make, in my opinion.

Sen. Barack Obama has selected Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate, according to his official Web site and a text message the campaign sent to supporters on Saturday.

“Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee,” the text message, sent at around 3 a.m. ET, said.

“Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois — the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago,” Obama said in an e-mail sent to supporters Saturday morning.

“I’m excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can’t do this alone,” he wrote. ” We need your help to keep building this movement for change.”

While many will see Obama/Biden as a formidable ticket, I am left feeling like I’ve been slapped with a wet noodle.

Let me explain. While I admire the work Biden did on the Violence Against Women Act, which will undoubtedly be the feather in his cap for women’s groups, his record on helping less affluent women is not inspiring. In fact, Biden’s votes on a number of key issues doesn’t move me towards an inspiring feeling, and, unlike some, I cannot set that aside at this moment. In fact, Biden has not really been a friend of liberals at all.

I think this is one of the democrats ongoing biggest problems — pandering to the center and independent voters instead of the far left progressive voters, which, I feel, has lost them elections at all levels of government, including the presidency. As of this morning, I have even less hope that the dems will win in November. By the way, Jerelyn, I’m right there with you, I am anything but happy with this pick.

Change and hope? This pick seems like more of the same to me.

Your thoughts?

Additional thoughts: Kevin puts in words a little of how I feel about dems overall picks towards center here.

So Obama’s move to the center is bolstered by this pick and remains the challenge that liberals have grown accustomed to: we’re taken for granted because who else can we vote for that won’t aid the election of McCain?