Aug 20 2008
What the Press Misses in Obama’s VP Choices
The mainstream press is driving itself into a frenzy trying to guess who Barack Obama and John McCain will pick as their running mates for November’s election. Names are thrown up, chances are tallied, and personalities are analyzed. Meanwhile both candidates are lapping up the theatrics, carefully choosing the time and place of the announcement for maximum effect. Yes, such things can actually have an effect on one’s odds of being president. When John Kerry announced John Edwards as his running mate 4 years ago, the candidates milked the announcement for every percentage point, gaining 4% in the polls after an elaborate 4-day rollout which was dutifully covered in the press. Today we’ll look at the angles that the mainstream media avoids with respect to Barack Obama’s VP pick – what positions the potential candidates have taken on important issues, and the racial dynamics that Obama faces in feeling the need to balance his blackness with a white running mate.
GUEST: David Sirota, best-selling author whose latest book is coincidentally called The Uprising. Sirota is a fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future and a board member of the Progressive States Network.
One Response to “What the Press Misses in Obama’s VP Choices”
Is David Sirota the best you can do in finding a pundit to comment on Obama’s VP choices? Sirota is one of those “safe” liberal voices who won’t go over the line, i.e. go too far in telling it like it is/stepping on a few Democratic feet. Listeners get enough of these tepid/limousine progressive voices on mainstream radio/TV (including NPR).
Sirota criticizes Biden for supporting the war and the bankruptcy bill. No wonder he’s on Obama’s short list – Obama voted yea for the bankruptcy bill and equivocates regularly on a true end to the war, along with hawkish trash talk about Iran and ramping up action in Afghanistan.
Sirota talks about how Tim Kaine would be a better choice in terms of appearing to represent the “change” that Obama crows about. Please. Don’t clog up the airwaves with any lefty pundit who still believes Obama represents change when his true position on every domestic and foreign policy issue mirrors that of the current war and greed mongering two-party cabal.
The candidates on Obama’s VP list are no surprise. Birds of a feather flocking together as all of them along with Obama represent the status quo perfectly. The only “change” is a darker face at the head of the ticket.
You all know this and should cut back (or preferably eliminate) these safe lefty voices from your airwaves. Get someone on that isn’t afraid to spill the beans and give the real 411 on what is going on.