AP Headline: 'Biden Pick Shows Lack of Confidence'

Here's something you don't see every day: an Associated Press writer actually publishing something negative about a Democrat...let alone one named Obama.

But, there it was Saturday, with a headline even more curious: "Analysis: Biden Pick Shows Lack of Confidence."

The Obamessiah lacks confidence? Such wrote Ron Fournier (emphasis added, photo courtesy AP):

In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness - inexperience in office and on foreign policy - rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions. [...]

The picks say something profound about Obama: For all his self-confidence, the 47-year-old Illinois senator worried that he couldn't beat Republican John McCain without help from a seasoned politician willing to attack. [...]

And there's the 2007 ABC interview in which Biden said he would stand by an earlier statement that Obama was not ready to serve as president. [...]

So the question is whether Biden's depth counters Obama's inexperience - or highlights it?

It seems Obama is worried that some voters are starting to agree.

Strong analysis, Ron. Yet, something he missed is the possibility that the recent invasion of Georgia by Russia changed the entire calculus of Obama's decision. As the Washington Post's Dan Balz wrote Saturday:

The die may have been cast for Biden when the Russians invaded Georgia a few weeks ago. Until then, Obama may have believed he had more latitude in his choice of a vice president. Once the tanks rolled, the discussion shifted toward someone in the mix who would raise no questions in the area of national security.

This became more and more apparent as polls taken after the Russian invasion showed respondents much more confident in McCain to be able to handle a revitalized imperialist Russia.

This raises an interesting question that press members should be asking in the days and months ahead: if Obama agrees with citizens' concerns about his own foreign policy acumen and inexperience, should America be electing such a man president with wars raging in Afghanistan and Iraq, an ongoing war on terrorism, and a resurgent and suddenly well-funded Russia seemingly looking to regain its super power status?