It’s Biden for VP Posted by: Dale Franks
on Saturday, August 23, 2008
The LA Times is reporting that Barack Obama has chosen Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) as his Vice presidential nominee. It is not, apparently, an official announcement, yet.
Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrats' about-to-be presidential nominee, has chosen a fellow senator, Joe Biden of Delaware, as his about-to-be running mate for the Nov. 4 general election.
Two high-ranking Democratic Party officials have confirmed the choice of the veteran to The Times.
There's a bit of C-SPAN tape that should surface quickly if he's named. ... Remember, it wasn't Biden's plagiarism that knocked him out of the 1988 race. It was "'I think I have a much higher I.Q. than you do''—a bizarre videotaped putdown that Biden immediately called into question with five (5) boasts about his academic record, four (4) of which turned out to be easily disproved B.S. ...
This statement from Ben Porritt, a spokesman for Republican John McCain's presidential campaign, was just sent to reporters:
There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama's lack of experience than Joe Biden. Biden has denounced Barack Obama's poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing — that Barack Obama is not ready to be president.
Biden brings some interesting comments to the table, that no doubt he will be questioned on.
ON McCAIN: Biden, on a post-debate appearance on MSNBC, October 30, 2007: "The only guy on the other side who’s qualified is John McCain."
Biden appearing on The Daily Show, August 2, 2005: "John McCain is a personal friend, a great friend, and I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off, be well off no matter who..."
On Meet the Press, November 27, 2005: "I've been calling for more troops for over two years, along with John McCain and others subsequent to my saying that."
ON OBAMA: Reacting to an Obama speech on counterterrorism, August 1, 2007: "'Look, the truth is the four major things he called for, well, hell that’s what I called for,' Biden said today on MSNBC’s Hardball, echoing comments he made earlier in the day at an event promoting his book at the National Press Club. Biden added, 'I'm glad he’s talking about these things.'"
Also that day, the Biden campaign issued a release that began, "The Biden for President Campaign today congratulated Sen. Barack Obama for arriving at a number of Sen. Biden’s long-held views on combating al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan." That release mocked Obama for asking about the "stunning level of mercury in fish" and asked about a proposal for the U.S. adopt a ban on mercury sales abroad at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
Assessing Obama’s Iraq plan on September 13, 2007: "My impression is [Obama] thinks that if we leave, somehow the Iraqis are going to have an epiphany" of peaceful coexistence among warring sects. "I’ve seen zero evidence of that."
Speaking to the New York Observer: Biden was equally skeptical — albeit in a slightly more backhanded way — about Mr. Obama. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," he said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."..."But — and the 'but' was clearly inevitable — he doubts whether American voters are going to elect 'a one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate,' and added: 'I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.'"
Over at Huffington Post tonight, there isn't universal praise for the Biden pick. Jackson Williams writes that Joe Biden is "no true friend of working men and women." Meanwhile, Erin Kotecki Vest pleads with Mr. Biden, "Don't say anything stupid." Martin Lewis, in an apparent exclusive, reports Biden's initial reaction on being selected:
I feel as if I am walking with destiny, and that all my past life has been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial...I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and suffering.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson opines that the reason for picking Biden is the Republican claims that Mr. Obama is inexperienced and naive when it comes to foreign policy. He concludes his analysis with less than fulsome praise for Mr. Biden's ability to deflect those criticisms, however:
Biden is on the ticket soley to parry McCain's hit point that Obama is a greenhorn on foreign policy and national security. Time will tell whether Biden will be much good in doing that.
Apparently, the Biden tip-off came early, from the Secret Service, where it was leaked after the Service was dispatched to begin an Executive Protection detail on Sen. Biden. Reporters began making frenzied calls, and when it became clear the cat was coming out of the bag, the Obama Campaign's text message went out to supporters, judging from the activity at Daily Kos.
The Obama Campaign's text message, sent out to cell phones all across the country:
Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm ET on www.BarackObama.com. Spread the word!
"I feel as if I am walking with destiny, and that all my past life..."
Ow! Got me. Reel me in. I was halfway through, thinking that ’Gee, this sounds familiar’ and ’Sheesh, what an arrogant twit’ , when I realized it was a joke although one could say fake, but accurate. I still think he is an arrogant twit, though.
Biden has no real nationwide standing or rep, except that most people will prick their ears and mutter "the plagarist...?" when they hear of this selection.
That he’s there to bolster Sen. Lightworker’s credenitals in certain deficient areas only serves to highlight lack of said experience. He’s certainly not going to be of electoral help in tight areas.
And I’m certain the Hillary supporters won’t be mollified by this pick.
Biden is a horrible choice right at the off.k: Just think of all the sperm that But that Obama picking Biden suggests not so much stupidity on Obama’s part, as much as it does a weakness of the Democrat field. He really didn’t have a whole bunch of choices.
The video of this is very embarrassing for McCain, and reenforces a lot of the negative perceptions people have about him.
Negative perceptions on the right. We’re voting for him anyway. (There’s sort of a Republican tradition of choosing the lesser of two evils. I like to call it "pragmatism" but we all know it’s a form of masochism.)
Please, please, please let the full context explode into the public sphere. What we need right now is for Hillary supporters and folks who are on the fence to realize that John McCain is their best friend. A John McCain presidency will not be "Bush’s third term", no matter what he says to Rick Warren.
"I say to the House as I said to ministers who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering."
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I was in the truck and sort of had to listen to some of the announcement. The part I heard made Obama sound like he had selected a conservative Republican as his running mate. He played up all the themes that conservative Republicans love. Somehow I don’t think conservative Republicans will buy that Slow Joe Biden is one of them.
Obama also harped on Biden’s experience and foreign affairs knowledge which basically plays into Republican themes on Obama’s weaknesses. Does anyone *really* believe that Biden will somehow make up for those perceived weaknesses?
I think, mostly, the Obamabots have decided that Biden is a sharp thrust into McCain’s difficulties with the "conservative base." They’re wrong.
Plus, there is, quite literally, a wealth of material out there to bash Biden on. Almost every attack I heard him make on McCain today is easily answered by something from Biden’s past. It’s almost too easy. Maybe Hillary turned him down and suggested Biden as a good second choice?
Oh, and I don’t think running against Bush (again) is going to work any better than it did the last two times when he was actually on the ballot.
Almost every attack I heard him make on McCain today is easily answered by something from Biden’s past.
And do you think we’ve heard the last of the "old, white guy" jokes?
I just hope McCain doesn’t do something so foolish with his veep choice. Caroline Kennedy isn’t vetting for McCain, and the old man seems to have some horse sense, so we’ll see what’s what in short order.
I can’t wait to see what effect, if any, this has on Obama’s poll numbers.
Michael Goodwin at the NYT is calling Biden "The New Dick Cheney". Not terribly apt if you know anything about Cheney, but I hope it catches on:
By picking Joe Biden as his running mate, Barack Obama has taken a page out of George Bush’s 2000 campaign and picked a grownup who knows a thing or two about the adult world.
Ouch.
And I sincerely hope Biden tags in soon. The great thing about this is that Obama can’t throw his veep under the bus. Unlike Wright, Rezko, James Johnson, etc. etc. you can’t exactly offload the guy whose name follows yours on the bumper sticker.
To be fair, I don’t think Obama had any really good VP choices. In the face of Obama’s current polling weaknesses, his prospects in November look much less compelling. He could lose by McGovern-like proportions if his support continues to erode at this rate. So who knows how many people turned him down?
Biden’s acceptance makes sense. He is not getting any younger or more popular. He doesn’t have much to lose if this bid fails.
The only VP that would have been worth the drama was Hillary. I wonder how much of the secrecy and delays this past week were due to the remote hope that maybe she could be coaxed onto the ticket.
Of course, we all know how impossible that ticket would have been for both Obama and Hillary.
Does Biden have any executive experience, or is he just another Senator?
My feeling is that Biden highlight’s Obama’s lack of experience without making up for it much. And that’s aside from the other failings Biden brings into this . . .
What the McCain campaign forgot was the full, very embarrassing context of the quote.
...basically, Biden told the Daily Show back in 2005 that he urged John McCain to switch parties and run as John Kerry’s running mate.
To make matters worse for McCain, he denied this fact initially when asked by the NY Times, only to completely blow up at a NYT reporter when confronted on his lie, finally admitting it, and claiming that it was common knowledge!
Hmmm. The Obama bots are getting nervious, aren’t they?
