Abrabanel: Musings on the Jewish condition

When word of Biden’s selection as VP got to Israel, analysts here started thumbing through the man’s lengthy legislative record and digging up old speeches. We sure did. What does Biden think about Israel? What’s his relationship to the Jews? More urgently, what about Iran?

It seems we’ve missed the point. Little has been said here about Biden’s significance inside America. Let us correct this mistake by bringing to your attention a New York Times piece from yesterday, according to which Obama campaign advisors have already laid out Biden’s task in the run-up to the November 4 election: campaigning in the four swing states of Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Come again? These states all went for Hillary Clinton by wide margins (though of course in Michigan Obama wasn’t on the ballot). Specifically: Florida: Clinton 49.8, Obama 32.9; Michigan: Clinton 55.2, Uncommitted 40.1; Ohio: Clinton 54.3, Obama 44; Pennsylvania: Clinton 54.6, Obama 45.4. (Source: NYT. Click on the state names for percentages.)

Not only did these states go for Clinton, but more specifically, Obama had a tough time gaining traction among “working-class whites,” that amorphous demographic that, one would think, accounts for at least half of America. He was, the pundits opined, too “aloof” and “detached.”

Now consider Biden: a Catholic, grew up in a working-class family, considered close to the unions. Bingo. The Times even lists in detail Biden’s plan of attack against McCain, which will focus on McCain’s allegedly pro-Bush Senate record and the danger of McCain-appointed Supreme Court nominees. Biden’s Judiciary Committee record and 36 years in the Senate are expected to make his attacks more credible, and presumably the Obama campaign believes anything Biden says won’t count toward Obama’s efforts to appear above the fray.

Those are some clever folks running that campaign.