The white guy he picked

We can't really surprised that Barack Obama picked a white guy to be his running mate. I think I've wasted way too much time reading blog posts about Joe Biden, but I've wondered if I'm the only one who thinks that his selection was a little bit weird.

I've never been a particular fan of Hillary Clinton, but I found myself wondering what Biden had to offer that made him preferable to Clinton. He was apparently chosen for his appeal to white working-class voters. I think the hidden subtext of that is, he was apparently chosen for his appeal to male working class voters. I wonder how, or if, Obama will reach out to feminist women voters.

Nevertheless, I am astonished by the ferocity of the response by some self-proclaimed supporters of Hillary Clinton. For instance, this post at Tennessee Guerrilla Women seems to be over the top. At the risk of belaboring a point, whatever his shortcomings, Obama's record on women's rights is clearly superior to John McCain's.

Ann at Feministing has one of the best analyses of Biden that I've read. She evaluates his strengths and weaknesses in an even-handed way, but points out some shortcomings that male progressives seem to have mostly overlooked. For one thing, "Biden has a not-so-hot record on choice", and also presided over the Senate Judiciary Committee during the hearings on confirming Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the post. At the time, Biden was hotly criticized by feminists for his treatment of Anita Hill, who testified that Thomas had sexually harrassed her. In reference to this last point, Ann provided a link to the site of blackhippychick, who was initially so outraged by the choice of Biden that she initially said she wouldn't vote for Obama, but who later said she would vote for him despite Biden's shortcomings.

Ann's post includes links to other interesting analyses of Biden. My favorites can be found at:

• A Slant Truth
• Jack & Jill Politics, and
• The G Spot.
  

I've found some other interesting stuff out on the web at a variety of places. Skeptical Brotha, a fairly vehement opponent of Hillary Clinton, nevertheless argued that Obama's choice for VP ought to be a woman. He was sharply critical of Obama's choice of Biden.

Over at AlterNet, Joshua Holland thinks that Obama "could have done a lot worse."

Well, yeah, maybe so, but he also could have done a lot better. It seems that Democratic Party activists with little else in common share reactions to Biden that range from disappointed to outraged.