It's Gonna Be Joe

All indications are that Barack has selected Joe Biden to be his running mate. Andrea Mitchell said on Today this morning that things are busy at Biden's Delaware home where family is gathering, a scene not reproduced at the homes of others rumored to be under consideration.

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reports that one of Biden’s sons was flown in a private plane from Maine to the Senator’s home in Delaware on Wednesday. Biden is “gathering the clan,” she said.

It could be a cover-up for a Game Changer announcement, but who could that be other than Hillary? Only the reverse, I suppose - someone so unknown that the media coverage is huge just to introduce the guy - someone like Texas Congressman Chet Edwards, who Nancy Pelosi was rumored to be pushing last month.

Reporters say it's business as usual for Hillary - no signs that she's narrowed the gulf with Barack and being considered for the second slot.

Here's what they hope Biden will fix - The New York Times/CBS News poll asks voters "Do you think the candidate is prepared for the job." 68% said yes to John McCain, yet only 44% said yes to Barack. More people, 49%, said no, Barack's not ready.

Biden's selection reveals that the Obama campaign now correctly views his candidacy as flawed - the other potential VP's would have been electoral college plays - attempts to swing specific states over to Barack. Biden is a generalized pick, one who shores up the candidate's weaknesses, but doesn't deliver any specific, electoral map, benefit.

80% of voters think McCain would be, at least, somewhat likely to be an effective Commander in Chief. Only 58% say the same about Barack.

Biden will protect Barack from accusations that he lacks experience - Biden has too much - and he would add international credibility, which Barack failed to solidify with his world tour.

He also offers protection against a game changer choice from McCain, such as Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Injecting Race

The McCain campaign doesn't seem to have noticed that when Barack made his comments again yesterday injecting race into the campaign (again), he was again talking like he was already president.

Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face.
So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, `he's not
patriotic enough, he's got a funny name,' you know, `he doesn't look like all
those other presidents on the dollar bills.'

Was Barack intending to inject race? David Axelrod says no, but then admits that the statement does refer to Barack being "African American." Try to make sense out of this!

Media Backfire

Barack's speech certainly made him center stage yesterday - and there's no question that shots of him meeting comfortably with world leaders may allay the fears somewhat of the majority of Americans who question his readiness for the presidency - but media attempts to compensate for its excitement over Barack with balanced reporting may ruin the opportunity for this week's tour to provide the jump start the Obama campaign so sorely needs.

Last night's World News, for example, spent the first 7 minutes on Barack. In the setup, Charlie Gibson mentioned that many see Barack's tour and speech as presumptuous. Then Jake Tapper started his report by mentioning that you don't usually see presidential candidates taking their campaigns to Germany. McCain also received decent coverage.

This morning, Barack momentous moment went without mention during the start of Good Morning America. They focused the news heavy portion of the program on stories such as the airliner that popped a hole yesterday, the possible tornadoes in New Hampshire, and a follow-up on the woman who didn't seem concerned when her young daughter was missing for a month.

While the Today Show considered Barack to be news, it also provided good coverage of McCain's compensatory trips to American towns with European names. Ultimately, the scheduled appearance of Miley Cirus in Rockefeller Plaza generated more heat than Barack.

How eager is Barack for something to change the movement in this campaign? Consider the latest polls from four states, taken partially during this week's trip, that confirm the tightening race seen in national polls.

July 24, 2008 - McCain Closes In On Obama In Four Battleground States, Quinnipiac University/Wall Street Journal/ Washingtonpost.Com Poll Finds

What little air Barack had in his sales 6 weeks after disposing of Hillary is almost gone. It's up to the Berlin speech to provide some lift, and the signs don't seem to be there that any major winds have been generated. Except in New Hampshire.