So sayeth the New York Times: By the end of this week, Barack Obama will blink first in the VP Staredown and name his running mate.
The hot name du jour is Delaware Senator Joe Biden. Being a homer at heart, I have no problems with a guy from the tri-state area being chosen from the surrogate chorus. He has experience -- including foreign, as exhibited by his emergency trip to Georgia while it was under siege from Russia -- and isn't afraid to speak his mind.
Russia's invasion of Georgia certainly changed the game a little, giving cause for pause to undecideds unsure about Obama's world experience as the rhetoric with Russia is amped up to pre-1991 days.
Russia has oil and wants a clear path for itself into the World Trade Organization and G-8. Vladimir Putin is also talking tough about the Ukraine -- a breakaway republic that, like Georgia, has pro-West leanings and joined NATO -- and isn't happy that the U.S. just set up a missile defense system inside Poland.
Obama has plenty of ammo at his disposal. He can say that this is what happens when too much attention is paid to the needless war in Iraq over a five-year span. He can say that any baby steps forward in Russian relations have now taken a bigfoot-sized step backward under the guidance of Republican insolence.
He can concur with former chess whiz turned Russian dissident Gary Kasparov, who says that the U.S. is to blame for Putin's latest burst of arrogance.
But the truth is that the next president is going to need to command enough respect to get the rest of the free world, i.e. the West, on board in the brewing showdown with Russia.
McCain has talked tough about Russia before and will again, but are he and his paper tigers? Can someone like Obama convince us of that with talk of engaging enemies with games of hopscotch and keep a straight face.
He needs help.
He needs Joe Biden.
And Joe Biden, who seems have been running for president just for the heck of it for years, needs him.
But will the fact that Biden shoots from the hip help or hurt him with Obama?
Will he get the nod?
I think not.
I think Obama still has a wild card up his rolled-up sleeve.
And it's not Hillary Clinton (even though that move, though a tough concession that would take the steam out of winning their marathon, could win him the White House).
It's Bill Richardson.
Write it down.
Is America ready for a ticket with racially diverse ticket (Richardson has some Hispanic blood)?
I think not.
This is where the race can be won, and it is where it may be lost.