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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Meet Joe Biden

posted by on August 23 at 11:50 AM

Eli Sanders introduces you to Obama’s running mate in a just-posted web exclusive story. An excerpt:

National polls have shown the race between Obama and John McCain tightening to a virtual dead heat in recent weeks. Something clearly needs to change for team Obama, and the selection of Biden definitely has the potential to help. On many of the issues where Obama has proven most vulnerable to attack, Biden offers either a strong additional defense or a direct refutation to charges that McCain has been lobbing lately.

Take the question of Obama’s relative inexperience. Biden, who has served six terms in the Senate and is currently chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, offers not only a strong boost to the ticket’s experience quotient but an object lesson is the flimsiness of the current attack on Obama’s experience. Biden was first elected to his post at age 30. Before that, his only previous experience had been a stint as a county councilman in Delaware. His political biography, then, is a near-perfect antidote to all the McCain campaign talk about how Obama can’t be president because he’s just too young and anyway was a state legislator in Illinois just four years ago.

Read the entire article here.

RSS icon Comments

1

I know the beauty contest national polls are a dead heat, but the electoral math is trending further in Obama's favor. Which is what matters. I have never understood how a writer can acknowledge that, as Eli did on the radio yesterday, and then proceed to pontificate as if they had no clue about it.

Posted by elenchos | August 23, 2008 12:02 PM
2

Eli,
Indeed, I really thought it was going to be either Sen. Jim Webb (VA), Gov. Evan Bayh (IN) or Gov. Tim Kaine (VA). I only thought of Rep. Chet Edwards (TX) yesterday. It's safe and not necessarily a surprise. Biden is qualified no doubt. However, big caveat for Dems is TWO Northern Liberal Democrats do not a victory make. Consider this: no non-Southern Dem has won the Presidency in nearly 50 years (Kennedy in 60' and he had a Southerner, LBJ on the ticket). In fact if my history is correct, when the Dems DID have two Northern liberals on the ticket (Humphrey/Muskie in 68', McGovern/Shriver in 72' & Mondale/Ferraro in 84') they were clobbered.
Good selection overall but a cross sea looms. I wish them good luck.

Posted by lark | August 23, 2008 12:29 PM
3

Whoops!
Megan, I meant to address you.

Posted by lark | August 23, 2008 12:35 PM
4

I thought it was Biden two weeks ago, and I was right. And the introductory speeches (both Obama's and Biden's) make it look pretty good. Biden is kick-ass. McCain's got nothing to go up against that.

Best moment: when Biden "accidentally" said "after four, eight years of Bush and McCain" as if McCain was Bush's veep.

Posted by Fnarf | August 23, 2008 12:40 PM
5

It is going to be a blast watching Obama take the high ground and Biden taking McCain out to the woodshed.

Obama-Biden 2008!!!!!

Posted by Whitworth Fag | August 23, 2008 12:44 PM
6

@4 yeah, I also liked "Bush-McCain foreign policy." Also, the "four more years" tactic is smart.

Biden did OK, although I think it fortunate that they won't speak together like this often. Obama is impossible to follow.

Posted by meggers | August 23, 2008 12:48 PM
7

P.S. A glimpse of Biden's voting record:

http://www.issues2000.org/senate/joe_biden.htm

Posted by meggers | August 23, 2008 12:50 PM
8

From the first paragraph, I can't find mein in the dictionary. Mane?

Posted by poltroon | August 23, 2008 1:35 PM
9

WTF? Do you think all the Bubba swing voters and older women makinga minimum wage and shopping at Wallmart in Ohio, IN, VA are going to study Joe Biden's careet and say to themselves, well gee Earl, if this Joe Biden fella was young and did a right fine job representing the huge complex state of delaware in the Senate, then that means the young fella Obama can run the USA and the world?

Please. Stop making up silly arguments to make Obama look good.

Look Biden's a good choice--better than Kaine Bayh etc. He helps plug the experience gap. But mainly a VP choice does NOT change the overall dynamic of the race.

What's more hopeful is actually the fact that Biden's whole speech was about the economy--hopefully written by Obama staffers and hopefully this means the Obama campaign is going to focus on the economic kitchen table kind of talk that will reach those undecided and swing voters who can't be gotten by talking vaguely about hope and change.

Good luck to the ticket.

Unity y'all--

Posted by PC | August 23, 2008 1:57 PM
10

@9

Hey, Susan, since you're planning on hanging around even without a shred of hope for Hillary, let's talk.

Have you always been a racist? Were you a little white supremacist girl as far back as you can remember? Or did you start to hate blacks as an adult? Will you still want to be an American after we have a black president, or will you emigrate to nazistan or wherever racists emigrate to? Would you consider going there right now? Would you like help with a bus ticket?

Posted by elenchos | August 23, 2008 2:27 PM
11

@10, yes, blacks are subhuman. Only rich white woman can save our nation. I am PC and I am Aryan!

Posted by PC | August 23, 2008 3:17 PM
12

I picked Biden as Obama's VP two years ago, although he wasn't my preference he will certainly bring the Delaware electorate.

Posted by Bob | August 23, 2008 5:41 PM
13

our voices have been silenced and the cultists false messiah have brought done our one chance for a better world hillary clinton is not finished she wiill return and take back what she rightfully deserves slick barry hasnt fooled all of us we will resist we will triumph history will prove us right they may be content to casually associate with terrorists and infidels but we are not the media will not touch their favorite son they will not report on the bodies the murders the money that has been taken but others have and the truth will be known god prevails even over your false one justice may be slow but one day slick barry will face teh justice system for his sins how will you like it when your chosen one is in jail even if he asks for a change in venue we can believe in rezko wright carlson price all of them will come back to haunt him in the end we will be victorious hillary prevails

Posted by nobamano8 | August 23, 2008 8:58 PM
14

maybe Biden and Lieberman can have a fuck off and we get Conn. as well as Del.

And of course, Nevada and Alaska and Montana might be in play ... this is getting weird

Folks chant electoral college - BIG states matter a lot, lot , lot ...

Posted by Frank in Ballard | August 23, 2008 11:36 PM
15

LOL, what babies these Red Bushies are, and how deeply they hate 99 percent of America.

News flash - if you're not NOW part of the top 0.1 percent of America that thinks owning seven homes is "middle class" you're being screwed by the Bush/McCain regime.

Posted by Will in Seattle | August 24, 2008 10:48 AM

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