ELECTION 08: On the podium, Biden bites?

As the evening of the US Vice Presidential candidates’ debate arrives, a thought occurs. The Democrats’ Joe Biden is known for being a bit of a loose cannon, a trait perhaps exacerbated by the swagger that 35 years in the senate must bring – he’s known for saying it straight. His opponent Sarah Palin has a reputation as a decent debater, and a way of speaking with an eerie finality, if she is on relatively safe ground.

An interview can be much more intimate than a debate – it can focus on the person, not just the issues, so the Katie Couric mill is hardly a fair indicator of form behind the podium. Still, there is only so much one can say without the knowledge before looking a fool, no matter how much elan it is delivered with. Odds are then, that Biden will trip Palin up at some point – the key will be how he does it. Too hard, he ends up cast as a misogynist; too soft, he looks weak. (Oh no, not another John Kerry, think the Reagan Democrats.) The target is also important; it must be the issue, not the woman – turnabout for Palin in this would not be nearly as bad, and could even be seen as ‘spunky’ (fighting the Washington insider, sticking it to the man – ‘if those punks down at City Hall don’t like it, they can swivel on this mid digit…..why I oughta….etc’).

Here’s the question, though: if Biden bites in a manner considered ungallant, and the Republican machine pounces, how much does that make Palin look weak for not being able to take it? She’s never been cast as a victim, after all. Nor should she be.

This all depends on context of course, but both candidates have tricky lines to tread tonight; at least Sarah Palin has the benefit of bargain basement expectations. On the plus side for everyone else, there should certainly be enough fodder for another Saturday Night Live spoof.

ELECTION 08: Drum roll please, for Senator Joe Biden!

The cat is finally out of the hat – Joe Biden, the 65-year-old senator for Delaware, is Obama’s vice-presidential choice. Biden promises to be an entertaining candidate, a man with no shortage of meandering, occasionally dangerous opinions in response to the simplest of questions. He ran for President in 1988 – then younger than Obama is now – with an emphasis on experience and not learning on the job in the White House; the campaign was damaged by accusations that he lifted from a speech written by British Labour chief Neil Kinnock, possibly unfairly – it’s a charge which Obama has also been accused of, but didn’t do him nearly as much harm.

Crucially, he has 36 years in the senate, a lot of foreign policy experience and is a Catholic – from good Irish stock, no less – which will surely help quiet the persistent digital Muslimisation of Barack Obama. On the tricky side, he is very much a Washington insider. Will answering the call for experience undermine the movement for ‘change’?

Time will tell, but just be thankful the announcement is out – now the Republicans can unclench and unleash their amusing attacks, and the media can hammer full throttle into the convention coverage after all that VP wheelspinning. The live blogging army should be of particular interest on this campaign.

See the News Pointers (right hand side, down a bit) for more stories on Biden.