At the Florida political blog The Shark Tank, Javier Manjarres offers a wildly implausible but entertaining prediction:
In spite of assertions made to the contrary by Vice President Joe Biden, speculation continues to swirl around the possibility that President Obama will replace Biden on the 2012 Presidential ticket for someone with less of a propensity for gaffes as well as for a younger and more “moderate” candidate in order to appeal to the thousands of disenfranchised ‘Independents’ across the country. If Obama really is intent on throwing Biden under the bus, I would not be surprised if he chooses none other than the tanned and ‘Independent’ one himself, Charlie Crist.
Quite a team: America’s first black president could pick the country’s first orange vice president.
Presuming Obama replaces Biden . . . why skip over a slew of lifelong Democrats to pick a recent party-flipper? Why pick a guy who just lost his own state by a wide margin? Why associate Obama, already known for making promises with expiration dates, with a guy who changed so many positions, so quickly, when he changed parties?
I know there are reasons to drop Biden - but wouldn't doing so smack of weakness? Especially since people view Obama as in a politically weak position right now going into his re-election bid? While Biden is gaffe-prone, he's not the problem, and changing up the VP isn't going to suddenly make Obama's policies more attractive.
I think Biden stays unless Obama's position in polling and in public opinion significantly improves. Obama will only dump Biden if he is in a position of strength and can avoid having the move look like a desperate effort to get back in the game.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAn orange Vice-President would not shock the nation in 2012, as the country would have the experience with its first orange Speaker of the House in 2010.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe President is smarter than attempting to run with Crist. That would be a gift...the the GOP.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe President will not drop Biden. That would be admitting he blew the first big decision he had to make as the nominee, one of the biggest decisions he will ever make in his life. It would be admitting that he should have chosen Hillary Clinton. And if he did drop Biden, choosing anyone other than Hillary Clinton now would pretty much guarantee he would lose moderate women voters forever. But choosing Hillary would bring its own troubles: she is divisive, she rallies Republicans against her, and she is a backstabbing opportunist who would happily throw Obama under the bus for her own political gain. There is simply no scenario for Obama where replacing Biden pays off more than it costs.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseObama could be thinking orange and black will tap into the mojo of the San Francisco Giants. He's forgetting that it might tap into the mojo of the Cincinnati Bengals....
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseUntil Christmas 2010, I could have seen Obama replacing Biden with Bloomberg, especially as Obama might see Bloomberg's deep pockets as a good substitute for the now-disillusioned Soros's. Not now, though: that ticket would be, "Whether It's Oil or Snow, These Guys Can't Clean It Up."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBiden is not a drag on the ticket; Obama is. say what you want about Joe Biden, he has a lot of friends. Even people like us who disagree with him kind of like him. If Biden dumped him he would alienate a number of political players without gaining much unless it was Petraues or someone equally surprising.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Even people like us who disagree with him kind of like him."
"like us"? Count me out. He is a smarmy, plagiarizing, foul-mouthed fool. What is to like?
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