Maybe my $15 didn't go to waste.

Yep, politics time. And a quick note as to why Obama made the right choice selecting Joe Biden as his running mate. Yes, there are going to be critics out there saying that choosing a 35 year Washington veteran is hardly the "change" that Obama has been promising.

I am going to state right here that that is totally the wrong outlook. By selecting Biden, with his insider knowledge, reputation, and influence that he brings to the table, the ticket offers the hope that all the things Obama wants to accomplish - from foreign affairs and health care to economic and tax policy - might actually get done in the next administration.

The McCain camp desperately did not want Obama to pick Biden for this very reason. Without someone like Biden on the ticket - with a governor perhaps or a less effective senator - Obama risked looking like a dreamer, not a doer. But with Biden at his side, the Democratic ticket suddenly can offer itself as a can-do engine for change.

Nothing highlights this more than a look at National Security. It takes years of absorption of what the world has been doing to itself to understand how to organize an effective, disciplined strategic course for the United States -- particularly at a time when the Bush administration has wrecked whatever global equilibrium previously existed. By picking Biden, Obama immediately shored up his weakness -- inexperience in office and on foreign policy -- with the best in the business. Foreign leaders call Biden when they need America's guidance, skipping over the White House and its puppets like Condi.

Yes, there were other possible VP candidates, each with their own set of supporters. People like Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas; Sens. Clinton or Evan Bayh, or even from across the aisle, such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.

And each of these other options had their own upsides as well. But they also had major shortcomings. For example both Kaine and Sebelius are excellent governors, but they are nearly as new at all this as Obama. The only reason that either would have made sense is for a combination of a regional, red-state grab combined with the intention that withdrawing from the international scene and focusing heavily on development at home was going to be the Obama package. That would have been a huge mistake, forfeiting the entire national security portfolio debate to McCain. (Something that McCain, based on his policies, is on the losing end to begin with.)

Chuck Hagel would also have been a decent choice, but Obama hasn't officially won the nomination yet. He couldn't risk having a GOP running mate ticking off enough super delegates to the point they throw their support to Hillary and throwing the entire party into chaos. (Bill would have loved that though, and if Obama won the nomination outright, Hagel probably would have gotten a lot more consideration.)

Finally, Hillary. Yes her. And yes, an Obama/Clinton ticket would look formidable to many people. But it would make for a dysfunctional relationship and dysfunctional presidency. Not what this country needs right now. The Clinton team had a lot of attitude issues that precluded any sort of serious consideration of Hillary.

That brings us back to Biden. The fact of the matter is that Biden polls well with many groups of Americans -- particularly elder Americans, white working class Americans, African Americans, soccer Moms, Hispanics, and Jews. Obama has just hired the guy who can not only continue to help him look fresh by helping to get the inside game into the right supportive patterns, he has hired someone who is not a knee-jerk, newcomer on national security issues who knows what poor shape America's global position is today.

There are many reasons why Joe Biden was exactly the right guy for Obama, but the biggest reason is that Biden's competence will help Obama be able to remain Obama. None of the other candidates would be able to deliver that as well.

And for that, my $15 campaign contribution to Joe Biden's presidential bid may not have gone entirely to waste...