Vice President

As you probably know, Barack Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his running mate. I see this as a strategy blunder on Obama's part. I say that primarily because selecting someone with Biden's long experience in congress does not fit well with Obama's strategy. Obama's campaign is built around the themee of change, which is basically a way to try to make Obama's lack of political experience look like a benefit (because he is not a political insider). Choosing a running mate who is very much a political insider seems counter to his strategy. In fact, it might lead some voters to wonder if things would be better off if Biden was running for president with Obama as his vice president.

Beyong the campaign strategy, does Biden bring any embarassment to Obama's campaign? Lets look at what Biden said about Barack Obama:
"I think he can be ready but right now, I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training."
That does not sound like he has a lot of faith in Obama's ability to lead.

On the other hand, what does Biden think about Obama's opponent (John McCain)
"I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off."

So the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate does not think that Obama has enough experience to be president, but he thinks that the Republican candidate would be good for the country? Great choice Obama!

What do you think about the selection of Biden?

Now to the other side of the aisle. Who do you think John McCain will and should pick? I would like to see someone different, young and charismatic, or otherwise interesting. Obama has the John Kennedy type appeal of youth and being a powerful speaker. McCain needs someone to counter that. Someone like Bobby Jindal might be a good choice, so that the Republican ticket does not look like two old white guys. Another interesting one (for different reasons of course) is Joe Lieberman. Yes, he is a democrat, and no I don't agree with Lieberman on several issues, but he would really help McCain pull in the middle voters in a way that most Republican candidates would not. He is one of the few Democrats that understands the importance of the war on terror. While it pains me that Lieberman is pro-choice, I think that a McCain-Lieberman ticket would win the election by a large margin, as many conservative Democrats would end up voting for McCain. Please John make a good choice, don't screw up this important decision like Obama did!

Gina wanted me to make a meme, so here it is.

The Least of These

Many of you have probably seen clips from the political forum held at Rick Warren's Saddleback church.

Barack Obama answered "What would be the greatest moral failure of America?" by saying that "we still don't abide by that basic precept of Matthew that whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me"
He brought up several specific examples:
poverty, racism/sexism, and ladders of opportunity into the middle class
This is a great mindset for the leader of our country - to protect "the least of my brothers". Poverty is a problem that plagues many communities, and we can do better to create jobs and raise the standard of living for millions of poor Americans. Unfortunately, Obama is missing the one group in America that needs protection more than any other - the only group of prople in America who can be legally killed without any cause other than being inconvenient - unborn children. Since the Roe v. Wade decision, there have been 40 million abortions in the US. That is 40 million of "the least of our brothers" who Mr. Obama does not want to help; he instead prefers to keep allowing them to be killed. If he really wanted to help "the least", he would work to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision.

When asked "At what point is a baby entitled to human rights" (which Obama never really answered), John McCain quickly answered "at the moment of conception". Isn't it obvious which candidate really cares about "the least of my brothers"?

See the two candidates' answers on abortion here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRZX_ndZN-g

Voluntary Taxation

According to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, our income taxes are a voluntary system. This is a classic example of political doublespeek - politics at its worst. Harry Reid is completely out of touch with the rest of the country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mRSI8yWwg&eurl=http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/

Maybe this is why liberals always seem to want to raise taxes - they think that people don't have to pay if they don't want to. Somehow I think that the IRS would disagree.