You've just got to laugh at the Boy Bloggerz who threw Hillary under the bus because she voted for the Iraq AUMF. . . Yet! Sweet Irony, having roared in from the magical kingdom of snakes and snails and puppy dog tails, inspired them with a Wiley Coyote epiphany. Can't you picture the cartoon balloon? Within it pops up the face of Joe Biden, and then the Aha! moment.
Obama needs to pick Joe Biden (who voted for the AUMF) as his running mate. Hilarious!
OBAMA III: Vice President Biden?
Several liberal bloggers are discussing Marc Ambinder's decision to put Joe Biden on the shortlist to be Obama's running mate:
The Atlantic's Matthew Yglesias doesn't think Obama should choose someone who voted for the Iraq War: "Biden's a sometimes maddening figure, but he's been impressive lately and there's a lot to be said on his behalf. But putting someone who voted for the war, even someone who did so half-heartedly and after making a quasi-promising effort to restrain [George W.] Bush, seems to muddy way too much of the argument Obama is making."
Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum disagrees: "Once he leaves the cozy confines of a primary where the anti-war base is enough to win, Obama is going to enter the chillier territory of a general election where he'll need to draw a bunch of votes from the ranks of people who once supported the war. He needs a good way to signal these folks that he doesn't consider them tainted forever by their erstwhile support, and what better way than by choosing a moderately hawkish senator who once favored the war but has since changed his mind? The opposite tack -- insisting that he'll associate only with the pure of heart who opposed the war from the beginning -- would be something of a disaster. People won't vote for a candidate who tacitly seems to be calling them idiots."
[snip]
Carpetbagger Report's Steve Benen has a more complicated view: "I tend to think Kevin's right about this, in part because Obama already has credibility on the issue by virtue of having gotten the big question right. He wouldn't necessarily need a running mate who agreed with him on Iraq from the start, and would disqualify many qualified people if he did. That said, I have a few concerns...The very first thought that popped into my mind was that awful ranking system from the National Journal. If Biden were Obama's running mate, the RNC and its cohorts will boast that the Democratic ticket featured the #1 and #3 most liberal senators. It'd be ridiculous, but I guarantee it'd be at the top of the talking points. [...Also, Biden's] negatives are numerous. First and foremost, Biden led the way on that ridiculous bankruptcy bill, and I'll probably never forgive him for it. Second, he eschews message discipline, and is well known for sticking his foot in his mouth with embarrassing gaffes. Third, I can't think of a single state or constituency that Biden would help Obama win in a general election that Obama couldn't win just as easily with someone else."
Can't help but notice the unwavering faith in the inevitability of Obama's nomination. But who is it? Gosh, can't put my finger on it just right now, the name is on the tip of my tongue. . . but someone who has won big states with Electoral College cha-ching, someone who who has actually won primaries, and who voted for the AUMF.
??????
Seriously, a trip into the Boy Blogz thought world is like a visit to the Twilight Zone. Reality-based community no mo'.
Didn't a few of these dudely bloggerz cheerlead the Iraq War? M'yeah, they did.
As noted in March:
They were for the war before they were against it, "all rah-rah war supporters when it first began." And they were wrong. Had they been U.S. senators, would they have voted, "Yea!" for the AUMF? I'm guessing in a snap. Watching the drama unfold, witnessing the pillory of Hillary as if the Blog Boyz had morphed into Beltway hacks or right-wing freaktards has been creepy.
Contemplating Joe Biden as Barry's veep blows the rationale for rejecting Clinton over her "war" vote. Oh, sure, there were other legitimate reasons I betcha. Of course, Hillary's vote was a bit more complicated than these fellers like to acknowledge. Like Joe Biden's.
Well, boyz will be boyz. Must be some of that mis-o-gy-ny many of us Hillary bloggers have *cough!* been talkin' about.
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