Biden?

On balance I like the pick. The reality is we are talking about politicians and none of them are going to be perfect or fit all of the criteria we have in our minds.

I like the Biden is a scrapper and not afraid to mix it up. That, to me, is a priority for any campaign and especially the Obama campaign. While Obama has shown that he can and will play attack dog you can tell he's not entirely comfortable in that role. I think his campaign has a tendency to be a little too passive (I've heard it described as the rope-a-dope strategy) and I'm glad there will be someone in the room with attack dog instincts now. I don't think the campaign needs a dramatic makeover in tone by any means but a little more aggressiveness won't hurt.

That Biden will undoubtedly take on questions of foreign policy in a credible and out-spoken manner is probably what gets me most excited about this choice. I know that some liberals (Ezra Klein chief among them) have warned that Obama should avoid choosing a Jim Webb as VP in order to not seemingly give in to right-wing frames about Obama and Democrats being weak on foreign policy. I couldn't disagree more. It's important that Democrats not being scared to engage on issues of foreign policy and that we begin the process of reclaiming our credility on the issue.

Foreign policy is going to be a primary topic of discussion in a Presidential race. It's not as though if Obama had picked a foreign policy neophyte Republicans would have passed on the issue. Better to begin the process of demonstrating that Democrats are the more responsible policy in terms of foreign policy now while the GOP is so damaged.

If you watched any of the coverage on cable today you will see another strong asset of Bidens, the DC chattering class loves him. I think they identify with him because many pudnits are themselves Irish-Catholics from middle class backgrounds. Whatever the reason though the important thing is that refs like you, if they don't like you (for whatever reason) you are going to be fighting an uphill battle for the entire campaign - just ask Al Gore.

My first choice would have been Webb but I think Biden brings a lot of the same expertise and attitude that I found so attractive in a Webb candidacy. Given the other options (Sebelius, Kaine and Bayh) I think Biden was clearly the best choice.

Congratulations to the Senator from Delaware.