I already mentioned why Joe Biden could be a major liability for the Obama campaign, but Ezra Klein has made a pretty compelling case for why he's an asset: he's "an incredibly arrogant jerk." Could Biden be the perfect bad cop to Obama's post-partisan good cop? Because that's exactly what Obama needs right now.While it's generally considered the VP-candidate's job to do the dirty work for the guy at the top of the ticket, this is especially true for the Obama-Biden team. Obama can't afford to just hang out on the ropes and let McCain pummel him, but if he hits back too hard he also runs the risk of (1) looking like a hypocrite after all the talk about running a positive campaign and (2) reinforcing the Republicans' characterization of him as the arrogant elitist. Also, I just don't think Obama does well with angry -- he looks his best when he's inspiring, not ranting. Biden's just the opposite: he's made ranting into an art form. Need examples? Check out the clips below (and vote on your favorite in the left navigation bar):
(1) Biden's smackdown of Rudy Giuliani
(2) Further smackdownery of Giuliani (check out his facial expressions at the very end)
(3) An awesomely pissed off Biden on Iraq
(4) Biden at one of the debates (I don't think I've ever heard anyone insult so many people so effectively in such a short period of time)
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I TOTALLY saw Biden as the bad cop too! It's really very funny. That's why Hillary couldn't have done it. If a man is a jerk, he's just "tough" while a woman is a "bitch!"
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. Can you imagine if Hillary went on a rant like Biden did on Iraq (in the video)?
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