By Jim Moore, KOIN political analyst, Pacific University professor

Barack Obama’s choice of Joe Biden to be the Democratic vice presidential candidate is not a revolutionary one.

The revolution lies totally with Obama himself—youth, race, ideas, and the enthusiasm among his supporters. Biden fills in some of the holes in Obama’s experience—mainly in foreign policy. Biden’s long experience in Washington, D.C., also helps with those who fear Obama might not have the expertise to understand the rather labyrinthine workings of our democracy.

Biden, however, brings some important problems to the campaign. The immediate one, one which the McCain people jumped on, was Biden’s belittling of Obama in some of the Democratic presidential debates. An important issue, not necessarily a problem, but not a help, is that Biden does not bring much to the ticket in terms of winning crucial electoral college votes. The only place where he might make a difference is in Pennsylvania; Biden was born in Scranton.

The selection of Biden has been compared to George W. Bush’s selection of *** Cheney as his vice presidential candidate in 2000. The idea is that Cheney’s years of D.C. experience balanced the “revolutionary” outsider who was candidate Bush.

The Biden selection also evokes John Kennedy’s selection of Lyndon Johnson to be the vice presidential candidate in 1960. Two senators, one who was very junior (JFK), one (LBJ) who was among the most powerful in the Senate. One about whom the electorate had questions about “presidential-ness” (JFK), and one who people agreed could step into the presidency at a moment’s notice (LBJ). The huge difference between the two sets of choices, however, is that LBJ had a very real impact on the votes in many crucial states. LBJ’s appeal to conservative southern Democrats was undeniable.

The opening speeches of the Obama and Biden in Springfield, Illinois, on Saturday August 23 were fiery, full of campaign themes (especially personal stories), and showed two experienced campaigners in action. Obama had one big gaffe (introducing Biden as “the next president... the next vice president of the United States...”). And Biden will eventually learn the name at the top of the ticket (“Barack Omerrick!”—the crowd then chanted “O-bam-a” for about half a minute).

Now, on to the Democratic convention!