Baracks's 'boring' VP choice

Barack Obama's decision to pick Joseph Biden, the Delaware senator and Neil Kinnock fan, as his running mate has been criticised in some quarters for being boring. And there is a part of this blog which would have liked to see Hillary chosen; at the very least, the Obama team could have shown her a bit more respect. But Obama probably needs boring white male with foreign experience as his running mate to reassure those voters worried about the novelty of his own candidacy. The only question is: why didn't he pick a governor or a senator from a state with votes that mattered? Delaware hardly fits the bill, even if it watches TV from Pennsylvania. This is a neutral appointment; Obama needs to do rather more to regain the initiative in Denver this week if he is to establish a strong lead over McCain ahead of the Republican convention.