Having grown up in a Republican family, I was never a huge fan of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Having since become a Democrat, I had come to like them quite a bit more. I’ve been an Obama supporter from the beginning but didn’t have anything against Hillary Clinton as president. However, by the end of the primary season, I was fed up with both Clintons. It seemed they were willing to tear the Democratic Party apart in an effort to get Hillary elected, even after the delegate math made it virtually impossible (not impossible in the most literal sense but rather something of an absurdity).

That said, I was impressed with Hillary Clinton’s speech last night. As I tweeted before hearing any of the pundits’ analysis, Hillary gave the speech that Obama needed her to give. However, I was probably even more impressed with Bill’s speech tonight. While he didn’t really stick to his assigned topic, national security/foreign policy, he wove together concerns about the economy and foreign policy into a speech that recognized both the things about Obama that make him particularly suited to be President and the more general policy positions that he holds that will be good for Americans.

Perhaps most impressive was the way in which he characterized John McCain. The Democratic strategy has been to try to tie McCain to George W. Bush by saying that his policies will lead to a “third Bush term.” The idea of course being that Bush is so unpopular that if McCain is seen as just like Bush, then Americans won’t elect him. However, this is a difficult claim to make because of McCain is known for his tendency to break from his party. (I believe this was once but is no longer true of McCain, but that’s another discussion.)

In contrast, Bill Clinton simply recognized McCain’s status as a maverick; he embraced it. But what he did next was genius. He essentially said that yes, McCain is a maverick and does break with the Republican Party but that on the two most important issues of this election, restoring America’s leadership in the world and the American economy, he is just like every other Republican. Put in the context of Clinton’s speech, which was about these two issues, he made a very persuasive argument.

In short, I was impressed with both Bill Clinton’s policy discussion and his critique of John McCain. Combined with his strong statements of support for Barack Obama, this was exactly the speech that Barack Obama and the Democratic Party needed.

Watch an excerpt, hopefully the rest to come soon:

A couple of days ago John McCain released an ad which states that Hillary Clinton is not Obama’s running mate because she spoke hard truths about Obama.

The ad is beyond absurd. McCain is essentially invoking Hillary Clinton’s expertise in judging character and competency. For years conservatives have blasted Hillary Clinton. At one McCain campaign event, a supporter calls Hillary a b****, and McCain simply laughs about it. McCain once chided Senator Clinton for supporting a museum dedicated to Woodstock. Until now he seemed to have no great respect for Mrs. Clinton, but when it suits him he treats her like an expert on Obama’s qualifications to be President and thinks she should be his Vice Presidential nominee. It is patently absurd that Hillary Clinton went from the person that the right loved to hate to an expert on character, judgment and experience and the best Democratic candidate for the Vice Presidency.

As for the real reasons that Hillary was not picked as Obama’s VP, I can imagine that there were a two big ones: her unwillingness to conceed defeat in the primary when she was obviously beaten and Bill Clinton. Senator Joe Biden, who Obama picked to be his running mate, said some things about Obama that weren’t exactly flattering (not personal attacks, but not great either). Senator Obama is willing to have people around him who hold different viewpoints. In fact, when he first entered the Senate he gathered together advisors from across the political spectrum. Once again, this ad is absurd.

[Update] The official announcement is here: http://polfeeds.com/item/Message-from-Barack-The-Next-Vice-President

News has recently leaked that Barack Obama has selected Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) as his Vice Presidential running mate. I find this to be an incredibly interesting choice.

At age 29, Senator Biden was the youngest person ever elected to the U.S. Senate. He turned 30 (the Constitutionally mandated minimum age for a U.S. Senator) between his election and his swearing in. His birthday being on November 20th, it would be very difficult for anyone younger to ever be elected to the Senate.

He has run for the Democratic Presidential nomination on a few occasions (most recently during this cycle) and is known to be quite verbose, having occasionally gotten himself into trouble as a result. However, as of late he has shown more restraint when speaking, famously answering simply “Yes” when asked if he would be able to exercise said verbal restraint as President. On a related note, Biden got himself into hot water early last year when he made comments about Senator Obama that some believed to be racist. I’m not going to get too far into that, except to say that I believe the comments were mostly innocent but that they do belie an unfortunate stereotype of African-Americans. Senator Biden meant no ill-will, but nonetheless, he chose his words poorly and in doing so exposed some all too common assumptions about Black Americans. Of course, at least part of this can probably be chalked up to Biden’s natural tendency to misspeak.

Moving away from the trivia, Senator Biden brings a wealth of foreign policy experience to the ticket. He is widely recognized as a foreign policy expert, having been Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. While his selection may help allay some fears about Senator Obama’s perceived lack of experience, he brings no state/regional electoral advantage, and his long tenure in the Senate may undermine Senator Obama’s message of change. That said, I think it more likely that the powerful message and presence that Obama brings will make up for this.

As for my opinion, well, I like Senator Biden. He’s smart, and he knows the issues. He’s not perfect, and I’m not sure he’s the greatest choice politically. However, he is more than qualified for the job. While I’m sure political considerations came into account when selecting a running mate and I may be underestimating his political value, this is very possibly one time when a candidate’s quality and qualification trumped political consideration. Kudos to Senator Obama for choosing someone who can fill his shoes should the unfortunate need ever arise.