Biden: good choice or bad choice?

[Glenn]

Do you think that selecting Biden to be his running mate was a good choice or a bad choice by Obama? (strictly from Obama's perspective)

[MoTown]

I would say no, but I can't think of a better choice for Obama. I'm not sure he had a good fit with any of his potential running mates.

[Glenn]

I'm interested to see what Mxy has to say, but to me, Biden was a good (but risky) choice by Obama because it really diffused the "lack of foreign policy experience" line of attack.

[Wilfredo Ledezma]

but I can't think of a better choice for Obama.

Joe Biden did...

and he'll be the first to tell you

[Wilfredo Ledezma]

"Make no mistake about this, Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Lets get that straight."

"She's easily qualified to be vice president ... and quite frankly, might have been a better pick than me."

Stating the obvious, really.

This election could've been over a month ago.

[Fool]

Hillary has no baggage and is insightful.

As long as Biden continues to do what every VP should (disappear) he's a marginal pick.

[Glenn]

This election could've been over a month ago.

Who says it wasn't?

I don't have a problem with Biden's thoughts there, he's right she "might" have been a better pick (assuming that Obama could have effectively worked with her, which is a big assumption).

I think Obama just decided that the campaign against Hillary was just too heated to bring her onto the ticket and pretend that none of it ever happened. In going a different direction with Biden, he eliminated that constant reminder that people would always have (real or imagined) that Obama and Hillary didn't like each other.

Another theory, one that I'm still unsure about, is that Hillary would have been the pick had she wanted it.

[Black Dynamite]

the question wasnt who was the best choice. it was whether he was a good one, imo yes.

[Uncle Mxy]

No, I don't think it was a good choice. I think it was a neutral choice, given that he had to choose first and didn't know who McCain would select. I think he could've done better with either Schweitzer or Richardson.

[Glenn]

Hillary has no baggage and is insightful.

As long as Biden continues to do what every VP should (disappear) he's a marginal pick.

There's Bill, Whitewater and the fact that some people (mostly men, IMO) quite simply just don't like her.

I would say that more people had a negative opinion of Hillary than they did of Biden, although that's speculation on my part.

Obama didn't need any unnecessary negativity in his campaign, especially since it was built on having a positive message/hope.

There would have been positive elements to having Hillary's groundbreaking story on the ticket, but would a black man/woman ticket be less palatable than a black man/old white dude ticket? In some circles, I think so.