Why did Obama choose Biden
One important constituency pressing for Biden was no doubt the Israel lobby inside the Democratic Party. Obama, no matter how fervent his proclamations of support for Israel, has always been viewed with some suspicion by the lobby. For half the lifespan of the state of Israel, Biden has been its unswerving acolyte in the Senate. And Obama also picked Biden for the same reason Michael Dukakis chose Sen. Lloyd Bentsen in 1988: the marriage of youth and experience, which is so reassuring to uncertain voters but most of all to the elites that nothing unexpected will discommode business as usual. Another parallel would be Kennedy’s pick of Lyndon Johnson in 1960, LBJ being a political rival and a seasoned senator. Kennedy and Johnson didn’t like each other, and surely after Biden’s racist remarks about “clean” blacks, Obama cannot greatly care for Biden. It seems he would have preferred Chris Dodd but the latter was disqualified because of his VIP loans from Countrywide. Alexander Cockburn
