Biden's Up. Unleash the GOP Attack Dogs

Obama's announced his running mate. If you've been living in a box and haven't heard the news yet, it's Sen. Joe Biden.

The GOP already has their attack machine calibrated, as Digby reported yesterday:

Anyway, if it is Biden, here's the opening salvo from the GOP:

GOP Eyes Obama-Biden Split on War Funding

ABC News' Teddy Davis, Arnab Datta, and Rigel Anderson Report: The GOP is planning to step up its attacks on Barack Obama's war funding record if the presumptive Democratic nominee taps Joe Biden to be his running mate.

"Our argument will be that the Biden pick only underscores how inexperienced Barack Obama knows he is," a Republican official told ABC News, previewing the GOP's possible line of attack. "Obama's vote against funding our troops was an example of inexperience and poor judgment. The fact that his more experienced running mate made the right call highlights Obama's mistake."

"Whereas to date that vote hasn't gotten a lot of attention," the Republican official added, "now it will."

Obama national security spokesperson Wendy Morigi declined to comment when contacted by ABC News, saying, "We're not commenting on any aspect of any potential V.P."

Biden, who serves as chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, is not the only vice presidential prospect who was at odds with Obama on the May 24, 2007 war funding vote.

[snip]

Biden, however, is seen by Republicans as offering more ammunition on the war funding issue.

That's because Biden, as a former White House hopeful and staple on the Sunday morning talk shows, has been more pointed than any other Democrat in contrasting his views on war funding votes with those of Obama.

They didn't waste any time. This is what greeted me the instant I pulled up my Yahoo mail:

Glorious how the AP leaps to repeat Republicon talking points, innit?

Well, let the Right Wing Noise Machine and the gasbags yawp. They're going to be slinging their mud at a man who, shall we say, has plenty of ground to stand on:

Here are some good things about the match. He's Irish Catholic which is useful for the key state of Pennsylvania and the surrounding contested areas. He has international experience though his experience didn't stop him from voting for the Iraq war, something the "inexperienced" Obama had the judgment to avoid. He overcame personal tragedy, the death of his wife and one child.

Biden has a son in the military, a JAG about to be sent into the war. He's a good attack dog who can help with blue collar voters, at the same time he's reassuring to business community. Perhaps most importantly he's a known quantity, with no drama other other than the ancient plagiarism which MoDo reported. Add to that experience with Constitutional issues that overlap with Obama's interest in restoring some sanity in the government.

He's also not afraid to go for the throat, I hear. This is good. What with Obama's campaign getting good with the knife-twisting lately, I think this could lead to some very interesting times indeed. I'd rather he'd picked a more progressive, less traditional VP, but this'll do. I think this signals to the Republicons that Obama's not going to fight dirty, but he's sure as fuck not going to fight nice.

The Republicon attack dogs, for all their anticipation, are going to have a tough time getting their teeth into this one.