I was already in favor of a Biden pick, so I'm an easy mark, but I found David Brooks's case for a VP Biden very convincing. Brooks even manages to recast Biden's greatest liability--his logorrhea--as an asset:
Biden’s most notorious feature is his mouth. But in his youth, he had a stutter. As a freshman in high school he was exempted from public speaking because of his disability, and was ridiculed by teachers and peers. His nickname was Dash, because of his inability to finish a sentence.
He developed an odd smile as a way to relax his facial muscles (it still shows up while he’s speaking today) and he’s spent his adulthood making up for any comments that may have gone unmade during his youth.
Today, Biden’s conversational style is tiresome to some, but it has one outstanding feature. He is direct. No matter who you are, he tells you exactly what he thinks, before he tells it to you a second, third and fourth time.
Presidents need someone who will be relentlessly direct. Obama, who attracts worshippers, not just staff members, needs that more than most.
Of course, if Obama does pick Biden, it'll be interesting to watch whether Brooks falls out of love with him the same way he's fallen out of love with Obama.
--Jason Zengerle