Jack & Jill Politics

I’ve been poking around the blogs and papers and watching twitter, talking to friends. Overall, I’d say there’s at best a resignation factor e.g. it could have been worse. A shrug factor. A sigh. A yawn or even eye-rolling cynical sentiment among black folks. There’s a willingness to try and see the positives – Joe’s not without supporters in the black community. There’s also a hint of concern about some of the things Biden has said — and what he might say. And a little hostility for some.

Here’s a quick roundup so far of typical and/or interesting responses.

As a friend who also happens to be black texted me this am:

Well, Obama’s got his attack dog, that’s for sure. At the very least this will be entertaining. Joe’s always good for foot-in-mouth fun.

Tru dat. In McCain vs Biden, we have got some white hair Crazy-on-Crazy competitive action coming up. I think McCain is gonna win that hands down though.

Skeptical Brotha:

Late in the midnight hour, the Washington press corps informed the world definitively that Barack Obama had reached deep into the senior ranks of the Senate’s comb-over caucus of corporate has-beens to recycle Delaware’s ponderous windbag, Senator Joe Biden, as his running mate. Obama’s selection signaled his unconditional surrender to the tribal Washington power structure and the corporate media voiced its approval through endless rounds of substance free adoration and praise.

Receiving the campaign’s tired little text message this morning was anti-climatic given the aggressive reporting the night before. This Skeptical Brotha is unimpressed.

Prometheus 6:

…I would support Biden for Vice President without hesitation. I know y’all’s arguments against him. I have seen y’all say he is racist. My rhetoric-based response would be, “We’re in the United States of America. What’s your point?”

Eugene Robinson:

No, Joe Biden isn’t exactly a new face to complement the new politics that Barack Obama promises. But tell me if you agree that most Democrats, having nervously checked the text message that arrived from the Obama campaign at three in the morning, are breathing signs of relief.

Tim Kaine would have been new politics, all right — so new that he hasn’t even finished one term as governor of Virginia. He would have reinforced Obama’s “negative” of having scant experience. Evan Bayh? Not exactly Mr. Excitement. Chet Edwards? Please. And besides, through no fault of the Texas congressman (blame goes to the former North Carolina senator), this year the GOP would have loved to run against any ticket that included the name Edwards.

Hillary Clinton? It just wasn’t going to happen. She knew it, he knew it, and we should have known it too.

Joe Biden gives Obama experience, gravitas, gray hair — and, perhaps most important, a sharp-tongued pugnacity. He’ll have Obama’s back. He’s fiercely smart, and he knows it. (Should I add that he’s “articulate” and “clean”?) All in all, I think, probably the choice that does the Democratic ticket the most good and the least harm.

Electronic Village:

Barack Obama tapped Joe Biden as his running mate, bringing to the Democratic ticket a veteran senator with deep expertise in international relations. Personally, I had been hoping that General Wesley Clark would be the nominee. However, Biden is a great choice from a strategic perspective.

Oliver WIllis:

If anything, we can thank Joe Biden for being instrumental in preventing nutjob conservative Robert Bork from being on the Supreme Court.

Pop & Politics:

It seems that the Obama campaign is once again playing it safe, taking the frontrunner’s strategy when they are anything but. It’s like shutting down your offense and trying to milk the clock at the start of the 4th quarter in basketball with a 7 point lead. Doesn’t make much sense, but I guess Biden’s foreign policy credentials are ultimately what Obama decided to run with. Maybe it’s not a bad choice…

What About Our Daughters:

Holy Wacky Soundbyte Machine! Obama chooses Joe “Bright Shiny and Clean” Biden as his running mate. For those who aren’t familiar with Joe Biden, he has a penchant for saying interesting things.

[…]

There is something poignant about Obama choosing a man who’s presidential campaign began and ended with him calling Obama Bright, shiny, clean and ARTICULATE.

[…]

I failed to mention a very important point about Joe Biden. He is responsible for the Violence Against Women Act of 2000.

More after the jump

Pam’s House Blend offered this quick summary of Joe Biden’s voting record from her perspective:

* 1978: opposed busing except for gov’t-intended segregation. (Jul 2007)
* 1968: Wilmington riots failed at conversation between races. (Jul 2007)
* Nobody asks if you’re gay in a foxhole. (Jun 2007)
* Civil unions ok; gay marriage is probably inevitable. (Apr 2007)
* Voted NO on recommending Constitutional ban on flag desecration. (Jun 2006)
* Voted NO on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. (Jun 2006)
* Voted YES on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
* Voted YES on loosening restrictions on cell phone wiretapping. (Oct 2001)
* Voted YES on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
* Voted YES on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women. (Mar 1998)
* Voted NO on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business. (Oct 1997)
* Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
* Voted YES on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)
* Voted NO on Amendment to prohibit flag burning. (Dec 1995)
* Voted NO on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds. (Jul 1995)
* Rated 60% by the ACLU, indicating a mixed civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
* Issue a commemorative postage stamp of Rosa Parks. (Dec 2005)
* Rated 78% by the HRC, indicating a pro-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
* Rated 100% by the NAACP, indicating a pro-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)
* Re-introduce the Equal Rights Amendment. (Mar 2007)

African American Political Pundit:

Here’s are some quick pros:

1. Biden’s experience with international affairs is heralded with his title, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
2. Biden knows how to play the important vice presidential role of attack dog, as he did during the debate over Supreme Court nominees Clarence Thomas and Robert Bork.
3. He could help shore up a couple of important constituencies for Obama: white Catholics and Latinos. Obama struggled with both groups in the Democratic primary. Biden’s working-class Catholic background could help with that set of voters, and both his faith and his support for more liberal immigration laws might appeal to Latinos.
4. Biden is more moderate than most people think. His high-profile role in judicial nominations gives him a liberal image, but he is a centrist on many issues both foreign and domestic.

AAPP: Johnathan writes some Cons as well:

And a few cons:

1. Biden could say anything at any time — ranging from the incisive to the insightful to the funny to the offensive to the weird. Reporters love it; presidential campaign aides not so much.

AAPP: Johnathan has more… but you will have to read his full articl

Slant Truth:

Dear Senator Barack Obama,

You picked Joe Biden?

Sorry, not feeling it. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but this is the proverbial straw breaking the camel’s back. I can’t complain about racism on the part of Sen. Clinton and ignore the racism of Sen. Biden. And for anyone that wants to tell me that I’m basically electing Sen. McCain? Fuck you. I will vote by my conscious and if you don’t like it, well you should go talk to your favorite candidate. I will not support a ticket with Joe Biden. This is not change. I don’t believe in any of it. This is just the same ol’ bullshit and I’m not down.

Which doesn’t mean that I won’t continue to speak out against racist attacks against you, Sen. Obama, or sexist and racist attacks against your wife, Michelle Obama. It doesn’t mean that I won’t call out any and all unnecessary demands on your blackness, either.