I thought the speech was very well-aimed. Biden's oratory didn't soar; it lowered its shoulder and charged. Not a decisive piece of oratory, but a solid, grounded attack on McCain, and a confident restatement of the campaign's principles and loyalties. There's a sense in which Biden's style of speaking is what the campaign needs right now. In the Democratic election, when Obama was faced with an array of other liberals all of whom had similarly progressive positions, he had to distinguish himself through the striking brilliance of his addresses. But his comparative advantage over John McCain is not his oratorical talents: It's that McCain is wrong on most every issue facing the country, and Obama is right. Tonight, Biden largely contented himself with saying that. He could have said it better -- the speech would've been strengthened by a thematic touchstone, something along the lines of Kerry's formulation of "Candidate McCain" -- but the danger was that he would try to say something different. And so too for the campaign. Biden's speech tonight didn't bring anyone to tears, but it's the sort of message that carries you through an election. The Obama campaign isn't fighting the primary anymore. They don't need to be beautiful so much as they need to be effective.
