On Politics. Joe Biden is Obama’s vice president. Let the games begin. He is giving a speech as I write. Following Obama’s introduction he comes off as a pathetic speaker. They are not going to immediately campaign together. This probably is smart because he simply cannot follow Obama on the stump; he just does not give a speech the way Obama does. His first gaff, in my opinion, was to reference McCain’s multiple houses. This man lives in a 1.3 million dollar house, too. He may have started out poor in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but he is certainly no longer a poor man. He said that Americans sit around the kitchen table to discuss how to pay the bills and make ends meet in these difficult times created by Bush and McCain. (Note that, not Bush/Cheney, but Bush/McCain.) I have to doubt that he or Barack sit around the table in the kitchen after the kids are in bed to talk about these kinds of financial difficulties. McCain does not either, I expect, but so what? Isn’t it the American dream to get rich? Obama in his speech said that it was time for a tax policy that rewarded work not wealth. What kind of a policy is that? Is he suggesting that we all work for free? Isn’t it the goal of work to accumulate wealth? I know what he meant—tax the rich, but that is not what he said.
Additionally, Joe Biden is a pro-choice Catholic. That should give Republicans food for attack ads. Biden voted for the war and floated the idea of splitting Iraq into ethnic enclaves. He is a 35 year Senator with a history of gaffs. The best one, I think, is that he had to withdraw from the 1988 presidential campaign when it became known that he plagiarized part of a speech, something Obama has done and it all rolled off while he rolled on. They are two birds of a feather except nothing sticks to Obama.
And what about Hillary? The last thing for her and Bill to do will be to disrupt the convention. I am deeply disappointed that she will not be running for anything. It is taking all the fun out of this election and I am going to miss her. While I do think that it still can be lost by John McCain, I also think that with this VP choice, Obama did the Republicans a huge favor and probably handed them the election.
On the Biden biography, it struck me that a man born in 1942 had depression parents and most people from the depression era have a similar story of odd jobs and hardscrabble life during those years and for some years thereafter. The war years, although there were suddenly many jobs and wages were good, were years of scarcity that continued to make life hard for everyone.
I signed up to get the e-mail that would announce Obama’s VP, but before that happened, an invitation arrived inviting me to train as a campaign helper....

Dear Friend,

I want to tell you about an exciting program we're launching in Illinois. It's called Camp Obama.

During this two-day session, people like you will be taking their support for this movement to the next level by learning the organizing principles that this campaign and our movement for change are built on.

Camp Obama attendees will receive real world organizing experience that will have a direct impact on this election. Graduates of Camp Obama will go on to become Deputy Field Organizers who will lead this campaign to victory in crucial battleground states around the country.

By participating in Camp Obama, you'll get the kind of experience that Barack got as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he learned that real change happens from the bottom up.

That experience transformed Barack's life and made him who he is today.

Camp Obama is your chance to put those very same principles into action -- to win this election and to strengthen democracy in communities around the country.

After completing the program, you'll be required to work as a Deputy Field Organizer in a battleground state where you'll be organizing supporters and helping lead our grassroots Get Out The Vote operation.

Apply for a spot at a Camp Obama near you and become a leader in our movement for change:

This campaign relies on the passion and enthusiasm of ordinary supporters, but it needs leaders who can organize those supporters and turn their enthusiasm into votes on Election Day.

Camp Obama is your chance to step up and become a leader in this movement.

I would love to go to that camp. Now is McCain going to organize like this? Probably not.