Biden Agonistes

What a difference a week makes. About this time one week ago, Democrats were openly chortling about the possibility that Sarah Palin would be jettisoned from the Republican ticket. Now, a week later, we have Joe Biden publicly saying that Hillary would have been a better VP pick than he was. As they say at the ballroom:

Whiskey.

Tango.

Foxtrot.

So what to make of this? Biden may as well have been on a milk carton this week for all the good he's done the Barack Obama campaign. Obama has had to do most of the heavy rhetorical lifting himself these last few days and has taken more than a few dings for his trouble. Meanwhile, Palin has become a star and has been helping John McCain peel off key voting blocs that the Obama campaign had reason to believe it had locked up some time ago.

Most of us who follow these things thought the Biden pick was dumb. But none of us would have guessed that Biden would agree with us. And suddenly, it's the portsiders who are wondering about an Eagleton scenario, with Biden dropping out (for some health reason, which is plausible from a guy who has survived two aneurysms) and Hillary Clinton coming to Obama's emotional rescue.

Personally, I don't see it. What does Hillary Clinton gain from the scenario. She wanted to be president and if Obama's campaign craters, she'll have a great argument for why she should get another shot in 2012. If she signs on to the good ship Obama at this point, she might be able to save his bacon, but might not. If she is tied to Obama and they lose, it's over for her.

In addition, adding Hillary now would seem cynical in a way that Obama can't afford to be seen. His entire campaign and his entire raison d'etre is that he is supposed to represent a break from the old politics and is something new. That particular conceit has largely fallen away in recent weeks, in large measure by Obama's own actions. It's tough to show that you represent a new day when your acceptance speech could have been given by Walter Mondale or Michael Dukakis and when you have a bunch of oppo people haunting various locations in Alaska looking for dirt on Palin. Dumping Biden now and adding Hillary would probably backfire.

I am genuinely curious about what my portsider friends think about all this - most of them have been pretty silent about events the last few days. Do you think there's any chance that Obama might make a move to switch out his Veep? As always, starboard side friends are free to chime in as well....