THE OBAMA CRUSADE: Day 15

TODAY:


The word around Washington is that Senator Obama will name a vice-presidential candidate sometime next week, when Congress goes on recess. The names are dwindling down to a few good men - all senators: Evan Bayh, Tom Kaine and Joe Biden. The idea of naming his running mate before the national convention has something to do with changing the discussion from Obama's recent trip - which I thought was a major success - into the judgement he exercised in choosing a presidential partner. But he still wants to remind people that, for the time being, he remains a senator.

"He wants to refocus his campaign on his agenda and doesn't want anything interfering," says a key Democratic leadership aide. "He wants Congress out before he does this."

SOURCE: USNEWS.COM

Biden, in my opinion, is the best choice out of these three. Sure, Tom Kaine is a power hitter in his own right, and Evan Bayh enjoys popularity that seems to never slack off, but Kaine doesn't have mass appeal like that. And Bayh has been everybody's possible #2 for so long that it seems like he has no real ambition for the executive office. I mean, forgive me if I'm wrong, but he's never been picked as far as I can remember. Always the "almost" candidate.

Biden is the new O.G. of the Senate. Now that Ted Kennedy is ailing, Biden has the strongarm potential to be the Dem's version of Dick Cheney, which is exactly what the blue party needs to support Obama. The good cop/bad cop role, if you will. Biden has always spoken his mind, even when it wasn't always in his best interest. If he can focus that heat on the Republickins and keep from saying anything too fresh, he'll probably add that elderly shine that McCain is flaunting all across the American stage.