What Stood Out This Week - 8/17-8/23

Who's he gonna choose? And will his pick know how many houses he's got? Let's see What Stood Out This Week...

The Democrat

Barack Obama selected Senator Joe Biden of the all-important swing state of Delaware to be his running mate this morning. As Delaware goes, so goes Rhode Island, as they say.

Biden's a decent enough choice, I suppose. He certainly knows more about foreign policy than just about anyone in the Senate.

But really, it was how Obama announced his choice that put this week in the Obama column. The week was full of articles about the various potential VP candidates, and tons of media outlets filed stories about "Who Will Obama Choose?"

Personally, I like Biden, although there have been times in the past that he's said or done or voted on things that I've disagreed with.

One thing Biden's sort of famous for is saying stupid shit, like when he called Obama "clean" and "articulate" in the primary. He's got a rapier wit that often causes bleeding where he least intends. He's a pistol, a firecracker. He'll bring some humor to the proceedings. And he'll almost certainly put his foot in his mouth at least once, and I'm betting that at some point he'll say something silly enough that there will be some maybe-Biden-should-go speculation.

But along with that trait goes that thing that's probably most important: Biden's not afraid of a little confrontation. He can say things Obama doesn't want to say.

Yeah, it's a pretty good pick.

The Republican

There was a little VP speculation on the McCain side of things, too. Mitt Romney seems to be a front-runner, which would be an awesome pick because then you really have a ticket made up of the two people in America who will say whatever it takes to be president. Those two guys have taken every side on every issue facing Americans today. Awesome.

The McCain camp has already unleashed its first attack on Obama in relation to his selection of Biden. Somehow, because he selected someone with so much experience it demonstrates that Obama's not ready to be president. That seems stupid. They should come up with something better. Or wait a few hours for when Biden shoves his foot in his mouth.

This Week's Argument

But no, it wasn't all Veepstakes. John McCain doesn't know how many houses he's got.

The Obama campaign has settled on seven. But the truth is, no one can track down the real number. Even Talking Points Memo, which spent a good part of the week investigating the matter, has come up with figures between 8 and 11. Imagine that: John McCain has so much property, no tally can even be figured.

Because, let's see. I've got zero houses. I rent. A lot of people have one house. My mother would fall into this category, as would the handful of people I know who own their apartments in New York.

Yes, I think it's safe to say that one house is the norm. I do know some rich folks that have a second house. But you know, they're rich. So when you're talking about seven-plus houses, you're talking about the ultra-rich.

The Obamas appear to own their one home. And yet somehow they're the elitists.

More and more people in the United States have zero houses because they've suffered foreclosure.

I'm hoping that this is the week that John McCain lost the election. But I'm sure he'll weather this storm like he seems to weather all the others. Boy, people sure are forgiving of this John McCain character. What will it take for people to John-McCain him?