One of the reasons Obama selected Biden is because Biden is a Roman
Catholic. But he is not a pro-life Catholic. With the exception of one
vote for the Hatch Constitutional Amendment on right-to-life in 1982 and
votes against partial-birth abortion, Biden has a pro-abortion voting
record. What is his Bishop going to say about that? The most outspoken
proponent of denying Communion to so-called pro-choice Catholics,
Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, has been assigned to the Vatican.
He will not be around to do to Biden what he did to Senator John F.
Kerry in 2004 by announcing that if Kerry tried to receive Communion in
his diocese his priests should refuse him. It is unclear how many other
Bishops take that position. Clearly it is a minority. I have yet to hear
from the Bishop of Wilmington (Delaware) on the subject but it appears
safe to conclude that he will not deny Biden the Sacrament, his not
having previously done so. Other Catholic groups, such as the Knights of
Columbus, will not be reluctant to speak out against Biden. It remains
to be seen if Biden's Catholicity will be as asset or a liability to the
Obama campaign.
Another reason Biden was chosen is his ties to the working class part of
Pennsylvania. He was born in Scranton and lived there until he was 10
years of age. There is no doubt that he will help Obama in Pennsylvania.
He never has lost his blue-collar touch, which has enabled him to be
elected to six terms as a Senator from Delaware.
Republicans are chortling over the Biden selection, viewing him as a
target-rich candidate. They may not get the last laugh. I think, if
Obama is able to keep tabs on Biden, he will become a major plus to the
Obama campaign. The one problem which Biden does not solve, however, is
the Hillary problem. Many of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters
still are angry at her loss to Obama. The world will be watching at how
far both Clintons go in embracing Obama. The selection of Biden does
little to assuage those die-hard Hillary supporters who feel that she
should have been Obama's choice for Vice President. They are especially
angry because it she never was considered by Obama. Who can blame him?
Had he chosen her he would have had her baggage as well as her positives
It is said that about half the electorate doesn't like her. Then there
would have been Bill Clinton. If Hillary were Veep, he would have been
the ex-President with no doubt a White House office. Obama would have
had to contend with both of them every time he made a major decision.
Frankly, I don't think she really wanted to be on the ticket. She does
not think Obama can win. And if he does not she intends to seek the
Democratic nomination in 2012. It would be much easier for her to do so
had she not been on an unsuccessful 2008 ticket than if she had needed
to justify Obama's every move.
The latest surveys show that a sizeable part of the Hillary vote is not
prepared to support Obama. Part of that vote would come home assuming
Bill and Hillary go all out in endorsing the Junior Senator from
Illinois. There yet would be a portion of the Hillary vote which either
supports McCain or stays home. How large that vote will be come election
day may whom we inaugurate come January 20, 2009.