If Barack Obama is looking for an elder statesman with national security credentials as his running mate, my two cents say he should pick Sam Nunn. The conventional wisdom, though, has Obama leaning toward Joe Biden. If the senior senator from Delaware is indeed tapped, we can expect that mere milliseconds will elapse before some MSM outlet labels Biden a "moderate" or a "centrist."
We thought it might be useful to do a little prophylactic exploration of the Biden record. Given his long tenure in the Senate, he's earned literally hundreds of interest-group ratings over the years. But here is a representative sample, as culled from the invaluable Project Vote Smart. Although his "grades" have of course varied from year to year, overall we find—surprise!—that Biden is a garden-variety liberal.
- NARAL - A [2006]
- Planned Parenthood - A [2006]
- National Right to Life Committee - 0% [2005-06]
- National Taxpayers Union - F [2007]
Continues . . .
- Business-Industry Political Action Committee 8% [2007]
- ACLU - 75% [2007]
- NAACP - 100% [2005]
- National Council of La Raza - 100% [2005]
- Human Rights Campaign [gay rights] - 100% [2001-02]
- American Conservative Union - 0% [2007]
- National Education Association [teachers union] - A [2007]
- Environment America - 100% [2008]
- Family Research Council - 0% [2007]
- Children's Defense Fund [a Hillary fave] - 100% [2006]
- Gun Owners of America - F [2007]
- Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence - 95% [1988-2003]
- NRA - F [2002]
- English First - 0% [2007]
- American Immigration Lawyers Association - 100% [2006]
- AFL-CIO - 100% [2007]
- American Bar Association - 100% [2001-02]
- National Journal-Composite Liberal Score - 94.2% [2007]
- NOW - 91% [2005-06]
Should Obama pick Biden, a special recognition to the first NB reader who alerts us to an instance of the MSM labelling him "moderate" or "centrist."
Note: Let's focus for a moment on the fact that, as per the non-partisan National Journal's scoring, in 2007 Obama was the most liberal senator and Biden the third most liberal. Can there be any doubt that they would collectively comprise by far the most liberal ticket in over 70 years, since FDR ran with Henry Wallace, an open admirer of the Soviet Union?
