Dem Campaign Chatter 8-23-2008

George Wenschhof

Today, Obama will attend a Rally in Springfield, Illinois with his newly named running mate, Senator Joe Biden - It will be held at the Old State Capitol, the same place he announced his campaign for the Democratic Party nomination for President in February of 2007. It will be televised live on CNN at 3:00 PM ET.

Obama and Biden will then depart for a quick tour of the battleground states before arriving in Denver for the Democratic convention on Wednesday. Wednesday night is when Biden will speak along with other notables including former President Bill Clinton. Thursday night is Obama's acceptance speech at Denver's Football stadium where he will be joined by former Vice-President Al Gore.

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The Republican response to the Biden pick is quick - One ad is already out - it features statements from Biden that question Obama's ability to lead on day one. Watch it here.

Also expect the charges of plagiarism that surfaced when Biden ran for President in the 1988 election and led to his withdraw from that election to be brought up. Read more here.

However, Biden can hold his own with what is thrown his way. I remember his great line during the Democratic debate in Philadelphia last year when he was talking about the then front runner for the Republican nomination, Rudy Giuliani. Biden said the only thing Giuliani mentions in a sentence is; a noun, a verb, and 9/11. How true! Giuliani would drop out of the race shortly thereafter.

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Senator Hillary Clinton congratulates Biden - she put out a very positive statement concerning the selection of Biden as the VP nominee. Let's see how the roll call vote goes at the convention and how she does with her speech on Tuesday night. Many Clintonistas are also fuming that she was never vetted. Obama will need the full support of Clinton supporters to win in November. Read more here.

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Russia announces it has completed pull out from the republic of Georgia - some troops remain in the buffer zones around Abkhazia and South Osettia as peace keepers as provided under the cease fire agreement. Georgian President Saakashvili is still unhappy with the Russian presence. CNN.com has more here.

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Should U.S. act on it's own in Pakistan? - this has been a long standing question with the Bush administration who supported President Musharraf. The policy had been to leave the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in strongholds in the mountainous border of Pakistan and Afghanistan to the Pakistan government. The resignation of Musharraf and the recent bombing that killed 78 in Pakistan has lead to further review of U.S. policy. Read more here.