I don't want to be the underdog...

So I was at the gym briefly today, and they had MSNBC and CNN on, covering the first appearance of Obama with Biden.

I only half watched it while on the Precor, but I had a few thoughts.

- I wonder if the press will be following it as intently when McCain announces his running mate. Yesterday, during my other gym visit, CNN had "Obama is about to announce his running mate" coverage, and today it was "Obama is about to make a speech" coverage. I wonder if McCain will get as much "he's about to do something" coverage.

- one of the first things that Obama said was that Biden is "a friend of the underdog." Which makes me wonder if there are enough underdogs in the US who need the government to help them. I can't say that I see myself as an underdog (well, OK, maybe in dating, but even the full force of the US government isn't going to fix that). But when it comes to economics, to jobs, to finances, I think that's my job to handle, not the governments. And I think the election will in part be a referendum on how many people agree with me.

- Obama also made a comment that Biden was behind the Violence Against Women Act, and since it was passed, violence against women has gone down. I've never been a huge fan of the law, which is bad when it's got a name like that, because who wants to be seen as pro violence against women? (My opposition was because it tried to claim that violence against women was a violation of the interstate commerce clause and hence could be prosecuted in federal court, which was later struck down). Now, call me cynical, but I can't imagine that too many wife-beaters, when about to beat their spouse, stop and think about sentencing guidelines encompassed in the Violence Against Women act, and decide not to punch her in the face after all. More likely, it's gone down because of changing attitudes on the acceptability of abuse, and because women have gotten more empowered.

As the WSJ OpinionJournal points out (scroll down to "Biden His Time") Biden can be a bit of a loose cannon with what he says, so it could make for an interesting campaign and VP debate.