IT'S NOT ABOUT HIS PATRIOTISM, BUT HIS JUDGMENT:

5 things the Biden pick says about Obama (JIM VANDEHEI & MIKE ALLEN | 8/23/08, Politico)

2. He's a lot more conventional than advertised. Obama has promised a different and more consensus-oriented brand of politics but more often than not has done what most politicians do: switched positions to soothe voters, dodged the unpredictability of town hall meetings, and gone for the jugular when he sees it. The Biden pick — the most important choice Obama has made to date in his public career — was safe and traditional. Two male career politicians from the Senate is hardly transformational.

3. He’s insecure about security.

Forget security, doesn't the choice of such an insubstantial partner tell us he's insecure about himself? When George W. Bush chose a former Chief of Staff it told everyone -- for good or ill -- that he was supremely self-confident. In choosing colleague who's never risen in the leadership, never had executive experience, and failed spectacularly in two desultory bids at the presidency, Mr. Obama indicates a certain reluctance to share the ticket with someone who would be qualified to be president.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 23, 2008 5:15 PM