Veep? WTF?!

Who would you prefer? Obama needs someone with some experience in an area that he lacks, and Biden had it. It's not like Biden is going to be the next Cheney, so let's all take a breath and just praise the mighty Gods that he didn't pick Hilary.

Actually, from my perspective it was a savvy pick. Indeed, it assuages some of my doubts about Obama, who, let's face it, has close to zero foreign policy experience. It also allows Biden to do the dirty work of diving into the mud to counter McCain's attacks (which he can do) while Obama stays mostly above the fray.

The choice of Biden wasn't meant to appeal to you, anyway. It was meant to appeal to moderates. You were living in a dream world if you thought Obama was going to pick someone more in tune with your politics.

Orac's right: this choice is for those who might still choose McCain.

Yuck? Are you kidding? Yuck is McCain-Romney and four more years of Bush policy.

Biden is more like, "I don't care for that."

Yes, that's right. Let us "praise the mighty Gods". I just love where The Great One is attempting to take the party.

I hear you, but .... Biden is actually a smart guy, IMO, compared to some of the other possibilities out there. He is nothing CLOSE to my first choice, but he'll work.

Here is what is important: To not hold the Obama/Whomever (now biden) ticket to a higher standard than the Republican ticket, as the Post-Hillary DINOS (democrats in name only) have done. Or as the anti Franken DINOS in Minnesota, who are saying they'll support Coleman over Franken because "it's too bad about all that stuff in Franken's past" ...

If Biden's on board, he's on board. He's our man. With Obama and Biden we'll storm the castle. Etc.

Yes. Obama/Biden is the official ticket which will get my vote. No candidate is perfect. We may actually need technocrats to get the job done after the decades of fiery ideological battles. For this to happen, Republicans need to be neutered (ooops, meant "neutralized") in government and in rhetoric.

Then later we can try to move the discourse to the normal state (or "to the Left" as rightwingers would say).

I agree that it's all about the "moderates" (whatever that really means). Democrats ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO WIN this time and that means securing the middle ground. We screwed up the past two cycles and I cannot imagine another four years of this.

I really think that Biden will help Obama win (I mean getting votes that he might not get otherwise). He has the best likelihood to succeed on this than most (if not all) of the other options discussed--with the possible exception of Hillary who would probably lose as many she would bring. Although Joe is not nearly as liberal as I would like on many issues, I was impressed by him during the Iowa caucus season. I caucused unsuccessfully for him, even.

Overall, I'm optimistic about this ticket. It's balanced in a much better way than Gore-Lieberpublican (which was a terrible mistake). Obama/Biden are two smart guys with highly complementary skills, experience and appeal.

I actually suspect that the choice has as much to do with Biden's being an old-school pro-choice Irish Catholic; as such he has at least the potential for a wide appeal to working-class and 'California Catholic' types, both of which are sufficiently major Democratic voting blocks that they can make a considerable difference by their level of enthusiasm for a ticket. Biden's association with foreign policy seems to me to be far and away the riskier part of the choice: McCain's campaign is already sending out hints about how Biden will really run the show, which is exactly what one should have expected.