Comedy gold courtesy of Ben Smith to mark Halperin’s heavy-handed hint this morning that Greasy Joe’s the one for The One (re: Halperin’s “Bo knows” allusion, note that Biden’s son is named Beau). Between this, his assorted nuanced pensees on race, and his tweaking of Barry O for being less curious about NATO’s role in Afghanistan than a subcommittee chairman should be, the RNC will have loads of fun with him. What makes the ad interesting is that after the first 30 seconds or so, it eases into a strikingly Obama-esque message: Presidency as “pulpit,” the world’s “lost confidence in us,” the same swill they’ve been selling forever as a touchy-feely alternative to Republican hawks. But what’s that bit at the end that “If the sparks fly, so be it”? Doesn’t sound very Hopenchangey to me.

Update: Grease-y is the word, says Howard Fineman:

Within the last few hours I’ve spoken with two of the finalists for the role of Barack Obama’s running-mate, and to two other sources who are close to the process.

My bottom line is this: Barring a big surprise or last-minute change of heart, the choice is likely to be Sen. Joe Biden of Deleware, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee…

“If I had to bet my life on it, I’d bet it is Joe,” said one of the other contenders.

Said another, “Barack is moving toward a seasoned Beltway type, and that probably means Biden.”