The Obama campaign informed its supporters that it would break revolutionary new ground by emailing them first when Obama made his veep selection.  So I signed up on the list, under a pseudonym of course.  I was quite disappointed to receive the email some 9 hours after everyone else knew!  But the email was very interesting.  Here is what it said:

Bobbie --

I have some important news that I want to make official.

I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate.

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.

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

Please let Joe know that you're glad he's part of our team. Share your personal welcome note and we'll make sure he gets it.

It sounds a little terse doesn't it?  "I have some important news.... I've chosen Joe Biden."  It seemed odd that there was not a single word of praise for Joe in Obama's announcement email.  Very strange indeed.

I mentioned this to a friend who is an ardent Obama supporter.  My friend wrote back and said, "His terse announcement, what did you expect?  A lengthy discourse full of gushy language?"

Well, yes... I did!  I set out to write my friend what I thought Obama could have said, and that's when it hit me.  He couldn't say anymore than he had.  Anything else would have only served to highlight Obama's own weaknesses. 

He could have said something like, “I'm really happy to announce that I’ve chosen Joe Biden as my running mate.  Joe is one of the most amazing Senators ever and I'm really happy to have him on my ticket.  Please join me in welcoming Joe!”

Of course in writing that little blurb I got a glimpse into why he couldn’t say more.  Because where I snappily whipped out, “he’s one of the most amazing Senators ever” Obama would have had to fill in the blanks with some detail.  And anything more that he might have said would have cast a dim light on Obama.

If he had said “Joe brings a lifetime of foreign policy experience to the ticket” it would do nothing but highlight Barack’s own inexperience in that area.  If he had said “Joe brings a wealth of government experience” it would have again highlighted Obama's own inexperience and it would have made people wonder - where’s the change? 

If he had said "Biden supported the war in Iraq", that would have knocked a major pillar out from the rationale behind Obama's candidacy.  It would be the equivalent of McCain picking a pro-choice candidate.  Obama has in essence picked a man who he thinks has poor judgment.  He has picked a man who had the same view on the war as the man he is running against, whose view he constantly attacks!   This does not reflect well on Obama's judgment. 

He picked a running mate about whom there is little else to talk about other than how long he has been in government.  How is Joe Biden, who has been in the Senate almost forever (35 years), an agent of change?  It's an important question since "change" is the whole philosophical rationale behind the Obama campaign.  

So back to the original question... Obama was backed into a corner.  He had no choice but to send out a very tersely worded announcement about his running mate.  Nothing else would have flown.  The more he said, the worse it would have made him look. The question then arises, why didn't he choose someone who he could talk about?  Maybe even someone with whom he could make joint campaign appearances!  Why did he pick a running mate who he has to immediately distance himself from? 

They say choosing a VP is the most important decision a presidential candidate will make before the election.  It therefore shows us something important about his judgment.  And since Obama has made his judgment a prominent feature of his campaign we have to ask just what kind of judgment it showed to pick a running mate whom he can't even compliment and that he has to immediately distance himself from.