Did Obama just sink his own campaign?

I think he might have although only time will tell. Joe Biden - the definition of middle-aged white guydom and a Washington insider to beat all Washington insiders - is not exactly the first guy I think of when I think of 'change'.

The usually sensible Melinda Henneberger at Slate.com completely missed the boat in her Pro-Joe post today, and my problem with her argument pretty well sums up my general opinion about Obama:

• Henneberger thinks Biden's penchant for gaffes is charming and she favorably compares Biden's numerous slips of the tongue with those of the current President Bush, arguing that "voters actually liked it when Bush tripped over his own tongue; when he failed in his battle with blurting, they could relate." Um. Right. The only thing more charming than a president who seemingly doesn't know the difference between nuclear and nucular is a vice president who's highest praise for his running mate is that he's "clean".
• Henneberger states that "watching the Democratic debates during primary season, I always thought that a viewer who came to the exercise cold would have assumed Biden was the front-runner." This is not what you want said about your VP pick. Presidential tickets should have a lot in common with Dolly Parton - they should be top-heavy. A big worry for team Obama has got to be how to play up Biden's 36 years of Washington experience without making voters wonder why all those campaign signs don't say "Biden for President."
• Henneberger mentions that Biden's "heartbreaking personal narrative" is not something that he talks about often, highlighting his very Irish-Catholic restraint. Expect that that restraint will never be seen again. The Obama camp will be milking that tragedy for all it's worth over the next few months. Guaranteed.

All in all, I think Obama made a bonehead choice in Biden. And what's worse, he made it before McCain announced his VP pick. Now that Obama's made such a white bread choice, expect McCain to capitalize by choosing a running mate from one of the following three non-traditional categories:

• The democrat-turned-independent: Joe Lieberman. They get along great and Lieberman might give McCain more clout with both independents and democrats (not so much with Repbulicans).
• The female: any number of women have been floated as potential running mates for McCain. Women feeling marginalized by Clinton's failure in the primary and Obama's refusal to even vet her as a VP candidate might be well and truly won over by a female choice from McCain.
• A soldier: it's a long shot, but a left-field VP choice like General Petraeus would absolutely clinch the election for McCain. It would be such a slam dunk that Petraeus (or a similar military figure) has got to be on the short list.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if McCain picks either a soldier or a female for VP, Obama cannot win in November. With Lieberman, there's still a chance. We'll see.