The VP's: Obama Plays Defense, McCain Plays Offense

It's been more than 72 hours since Senator McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his running and one thing is clear, this was an offensive move. The excitement factor on the McCain campaign has been ratcheted up infinitely. What Palin does most is play into McCain's strengths. McCain has been known his entire political career as a politician that shakes up the establishment. He is the outsider always challenging the status quo, of his party and the political establishment at large. That's why it is largely ironic that Barack Obama painted McCain as part of the status quo. McCain is most comfortable in the image of a maverick. That's exactly what Sarah Palin brings back to the ticket. While Barack Obama talked about change and shaking things up, John McCain did exactly that when he chose her.

Obama, on the other hand, chose Joe Biden strictly playing defense. Joe Biden, by most accounts, is a nice man and well liked. He has also run for President and has never garnered even more than 20,000 votes. He has absolutely no national appeal. Furthermore, he has been entrenched in the D.C. establishment for nearly three decades. This is the same D.C. establishment that Obama has been running against. Now, it seems clear why Obama chose him. He was being hurt on the issue of experience and foreign policy gravitas. Biden brings him both, but this is entirely a defensive move.

The thing about politics is that you always want to play offense. That's exactly what McCain did and exactly what Obama didn't do. Let's look at what has happened. McCain has raised nearly 10 million dollars since the announcement. Yesterday, the two of them held a rally in Missouri in front of the biggest crowd of the campaign, about 17 thousand people. More than that, the media has been obsessed with Palin since the announcement. This is across the board from news, analysis, and everywhere in the media from liberal to conservative sources. It has been all Palin all the time since the announcement. Now, compare that to Biden. After he was announced, there was a little media commotion for a day or so and since he has faded into the background.

Now, clearly, Obama used the political philosophy that the VP should do no harm. In a sense, his choice fit the bill. Yet, the choice of Biden is as bland and boring as they come. For a candidate that claims to be ready to shake things up, it certainly isn't the pick to do that. McCain also is trying to claim the mantle of the candidate to shake things up. Since the pick of Palin, that's exactly what has happened in the campaign. Since he picked Palin, it is the McCain campaign that has been playing offense. Playing offense is the key in politics.