Will Obama “correct” his mistake?

The other day I posited to a discussion group the possibility that Democrats might replace Joe Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate and no one thought that was a possibility. Of course this still may not happen but Democrats are not above throwing anyone under the bus if they think it will help their election prospects. After all, there is precedent for this at the state and national levels.

Frank Lautenberg unexpectedly returned to politics in 2002, after New Jersey Democrat Senator Robert Torricelli, withdrew his candidacy for reelection, because of corruption charges. The selection of Lautenberg by the New Jersey Democrat machine (later confirmed by the Democrat New Jersey Supreme Court) was ironic because there had been serious bad blood between Lautenberg and Torricelli when the two had served together in the Senate. Democrats don’t worry about this sort of thing when power is on the line.

Senator George McGovern was in the same situation when it was necessary to replace his Vice President running mate, Senator Thomas Eagleton, in 1972, after it was learned that Eagleton suffered from a mental illness and was on medication for it. Democrats have no problem with ethos if they believe it would be best to throw one of their own overboard.

Now we come to Senator Joe Biden, Obama’s uninspired choice to complete the Democrat ticket for November. Biden is supposed to fill the foreign policy void in Obama’s resume. As ridiculous as this may sound, is this not an admission that Obama’s lack of expertise in this area would compel him to allow Biden to make decisions about international problems? – “Joe how do you feel about taking out Iran’s nuclear facilities?”, or “Joe should we support Israel when they decide to do the job on Iran for us?”

But the problem more risky to Joe Biden’s career as a prospective Vive President on the Obama ticket is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Since Sarah has used up the oxygen in the campaign trail, there is no room for the niceties of “good old boy” politics on the Democrat side. It could very well dawn on the Democrats that helping Obama make calls on issues like Iran, Israel and Russia is not as important as winning the election. If this happens then Joe Biden is history on the national ticket and he can continue to ride the train from his Delaware home to the Senate chambers instead of to the Vice President’s office.

Biden’s present short comings as a campaign partner are known even to Biden. At a rally in Nashua, N.H., ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports “a man in the audience told Biden how glad he was that Obama picked him over Hillary, ‘not because she's a woman, but because, look at the things she did in the past.’”

Biden responded "Make no mistake about this Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let’s get that straight. She’s a truly close personal friend, she is qualified to be president of the United States of America, she’s easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America, and quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me. But she’s first rate, I mean that sincerely, she’s first rate, so let’s get that straight."

The McCain campaign did not miss the opportunity to point out the obvious. Campaign spokesman Ben Porritt told the press: "Barack Obama’s most important decision of this election, and Biden -- the candidate he selects -- suggests, himself, that he wasn’t the right man for the job, and that Hillary Clinton would have been a better choice. Biden certainly has a credible viewpoint on this."

With Democrat party history; why should it shock anyone to see Obama “correct” his mistake and appoint someone else to replace Joe Biden?