FIRST POSTED SEPTEMBER 22, 2008
Obama to drop Biden?
An argument is developing that Barack Obama should do the unthinkable and dump his running-mate, Senator Joe Biden, before it’s too late. Billed as the Democrats’ attack dog when Obama picked him four weeks ago, Biden has done little to live up to his promise. On one occasion, he even admitted that Hillary Clinton might have been a better choice. "She’s easily qualified to be vice president," he told a rally in New Hampshire on September 10, "and quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me."
There are many who agree with him and who now believe that Obama-Clinton is the only ticket that can beat McCain-Palin.
Andy Ostoy on the Huffington Post says a straight swap would almost certainly win the election for the Democrats. "It's time to dump Biden and replace him with Sen Hillary Clinton", he says. "Joe Biden's a perfectly appropriate vice presidential running-mate for Barack Obama. He's got 36 years of Senate experience… and is a genuinely nice guy. But ever since John McCain added plucky Sarah Palin to his ticket, the old adage ‘nice guys finish last’ is beginning to take on new meaning in this year's presidential contest."
Kate Allison Granju, who blogs on KnoxNews, agrees. "There is no real downside for Obama to this scenario," she writes. "If he did it, pundits might gripe a bit about ‘flip flopping,’ but they would also eat up the excitement of yet another wacky twist in this crazy campaign season."
Glenn Reynolds, the notorious conservative blogger who writes for Instapundit, even speculates on how the Democrats might do it. An email sent to Reynolds, published on his blog, suggests that Biden will step down "due to health reasons" after the first presidential debate between John McCain and Obama this Friday and "Hillary is going to take his place". Reynolds also points out that Intrade, the world’s leading prediction market, has seen a jump in the number of people predicting Joseph Biden will be withdrawn from the Democratic ticket.
Citizen news network BloggerNewsNet has also heard the rumours. A writer from the website visited three Obama campaign offices and discovered that there was "almost no Obama-Biden merchandise available". A visit to the Barack Obama official merchandise website meanwhile reveals that "there are over 100 T-shirts for sale on the site - only one of them mentions ‘Obama-Biden’."
It’s not just the online media who are excited by the prospect of an 'October Surprise'. The Washington Post’s Jack Kelly reports that a source in the Democratic party told him that Obama is under pressure to drop Biden for Clinton. "What might prompt such an act of desperation?" asks Kelly. "The polls".
He goes on to explain that "due to hidden racism from voters" Obama’s poll results should always be taken to be four to six points lower than they appear. As a result Obama’s chances suddenly look less good.
(Correction: This post originally gave the impression that James Reynolds himself believed that Obama might drop Biden from his campaign. This was never the case. James published two readers' letters which implied Biden was going to be succeeded by Hillary Clinton as vice president).
FIRST POSTED SEPTEMBER 22, 2008
A. Cockburn: Hope amid the rubble for Barack Obama
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