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September 17, 2008 3:04 PM

Biden Is No Stranger To The Media

Posted by Ryan Corsaro
(CBS)
From CBS News' Ryan Corsaro:

(MAUMEE, OHIO) - As of today, Barack Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, has done over 80 interviews with local and national media since the Democrats held their national convention late last month.

Among them, he has appeared on NBC’s "Meet The Press", held two press conferences with national reporters, and yesterday alone, he was interviewed on five network morning shows.

Meanwhile, John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, this week sat down for her second televised interview since being picked by McCain, talking to Fox News’s Sean Hannity. She also spoke with People magazine.

Last week, Palin sat down for her first chat with a national interviewer, conducting three in-depth interviews with ABC News’ Charlie Gibson. Next week, she will talk to CBS News’ Katie Couric.

The Obama campaign pointed out the disparity between Biden's and Palin’s media accessibility again this morning.

"Seems that keeping your vice presidential pick in a secure undisclosed location is a Republican tradition that hasn't ended with Dick Cheney, I just didn't know it extended to the media,” said Biden’s press secretary David Wade.

“I reckon that right now a whole generation of journalists who take public accountability seriously are pulling out their collective hair."

McCain spokesman Maria Comella addressed the gap, telling CBS News, "Governor Palin is going to be on the campaign trail speaking to voters directly across the country about the issues that are most important to Americans like cutting taxes, drilling off shore to prices are more affordable at the pump, and doing away with wasteful spending."

Political analyst Stuart Rothenberg thinks both Palin and Biden are sticking to comfortable arenas for themselves.

"Biden's probably very comfortable with the media, he's been talking to them for thirty years now. Palin is likely less comfortable and the McCain campaign assumes that major goal of the media is the 'gotcha question' and their attitude is, why should we do that?”

“They spend all this time talking about how the media is against her, so why would you sit her down and have her talk in an interview when she can go out and talk to Republican crowds who love her and agree with her?"
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by cacatua08 September 18, 2008 12:26 AM EDT
You know, I''ve had a rare opportunity here in Iowa to meet Joe, and hear him speak as many times as possible and to see him interact with people - to sort of take his measure and see if he rings true. And I saw a man who was very warm and approachable, who cared that all of people''s questions were answered, and cared enough to explain complicated issues to regular people so they would understand them. I saw him get quite emotional when speaking about the "Fallen Angels" coming back from Iraq through Delaware. I saw him haul around someone''s fussy toddler while he spoke. I saw him carrying on as usual even when he had a cold and must have felt crummy.

I met most of his family, who are all very likeable, and not least of which is his wife, Jill, who is not crazy about politics, but is a real trooper in spite of that. She is as tough as she is beautiful.

I don''t know why the media people are so tough on Joe. I haven''t seen that he makes gaffes any more than anyone else, but somehow they stick, when Joe does it. Which brings me to the most charming thing about Joe, which is that he does say what he thinks. He doesn''t beat around the bush. If it''s bulls**t he calls it bulls**t. He''s not scripted and walking on eggshells. Sure you run a risk of things coming out not quite right occasionally, but we love him for it.

I''ve also seen that he can be very much in control of himself when in a debate or a situation where that matters. He did great in the debates.
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by rozforobama September 17, 2008 11:48 PM EDT
Biden speaks and he answers in full (a novel idea, learning about something in depth instead of sound bites). Biden gets interviewed but never ever gets the same coverage as Sarah Palin (yes, the Sarah Palin who said THANKS to the money for the bridge to nowhere that she kept, and yes, the Sarah Palin who did not visit Iraq, the experience that supposedly changed her life). She has nothing to say, just variations on her acceptance speech - NOTHING. I keep wondering if Biden could get some designer sunglasses and learn how to milk cows, or skin a hog, just maybe he could get that same kind of coverage.
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by cacatua08 September 17, 2008 10:44 PM EDT
Well, joeshmo32,
Obama said that he wanted to appoint a cabinet of people who would not agree with everything he said and who would challenge him on issues. Who better to begin with then, than someone who said he wasn''t ready?

Perhaps he might have picked Hillary, who also thought he wasn''t ready, except that by picking Hillary he would then have had to put up with Hillary''s baggage, named "Bill". Perhaps Hillary should have divorced Bill before running. Maybe next time.

Hillary said that she flew over to Bosnia and landed under sniper fire. Joe went over there to ask questions and observe the fighting, and then confronted Slobodan Milosevic, face to face, and told him he was a liar and a criminal and we were going to get him.

He always goes to trouble spots and checks the scene out for himself, rather than take second-hand information.

As for women, he authored the Violence Against Women Act and fought an uphill battle to get it passed. I think there are probably quite a few battered women out there who are better off now due to Joe Biden''s tenacity.

He has also sponsored legislation to get more cops on the street. the police are rather fond of Joe, as are the firefighters, whom he has been very supportive of since they got his two boys to the hospital quickly when his first wife and daughter were killed the car wreck.
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by joeshmo32 September 17, 2008 9:54 PM EDT
The fact that Biden has had 80 interviews since the Dem Convention proves that he has been able to find a microphone. It also proves that he has nothing worth listening to, as no one has paid any attention--even when he does tell the truth, which is that Obama made a huge mistake in picking him as VP, and should have selected Hillary. But, no one in the mainstream media bothered to mention that Biden accused Obama of actually making a boneheaded political decision.
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by joeshmo32 September 17, 2008 9:51 PM EDT
AND? So, Joe "the plagiarist" Biden has done 7500 interviews? What does this have to do with anything? Other than the fact that he has sucked up to the liberal elite media? Have any of these "journalists" asked him the sorts of questions that have been put to Palin? Are you qualified? Why? What in your 36 years in the US Senate have you actually done that gives you the mindset that you can make an executive decision? What foreign policy has Biden actually executed? implemented? What has he done other than complain about the Bush policies? Has he forced through any real change in Washington while there? Come to think of it, has Obama? How often does he vote with his own party on bills and other votes? What sorts of negotiations has he actually conducted that aren''t fully staffed and decided before he gets in the room? What sorts of negotiations with heads of foreign states has he actually been responsible for and achieved an outcome that was favorable to the United States? What does he do in his Senate hideaway? Has he ever met his son the lobbyist in that room? Did he really mean it when he said at a debate that Obama was not qualified to be president? If he did, then what happened since then to make him so sure that Obama is now qualified? If he didn''t mean it, then why should be believe him now?
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by mavsreader September 17, 2008 9:46 PM EDT
G.O.P.: She''ll talk, when we say so.
Public: But we want to know more now.
G.O.P.: Where are you getting your information from? The internet?
Public: Is this true?
G.O.P: Not true. Internet fodder.
Public: Well, how will I know if what I read is true?
G.O.P.: You''ll know it''s true when it comes from us.
Public: Hey, that doesn''t seem right!?
G.O.P: You''re just an internet-monger probably left inclined.

Repeat.

I could lie and say I''ve enjoyed this ride.
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by cacatua08 September 17, 2008 9:17 PM EDT
Joe Biden is an open book. His family story is there for all to read in his book, "Promises To Keep", and has been shown and written about a lot recently. And the press are usually mean to him. They are always calling him a "blowhard" and a "gaffe machine", and worse. Rarely are they kind. So if little Sarah can''t take the heat then she''d better go back to the kitchen. Or maybe she has something to hide? Or is it that she has nothing to say that won''t somehow show how little she fits onto the national/international stage?

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by kight67i September 17, 2008 9:04 PM EDT
After the warmth and affection that the main stream media gave to Sarah and even "more" to her family, If I were her, I wouldn''t give them the time of day. They called and tried to interview everyone who ever new her. But Joe, they left his family alone, didn''t question his parental abilities. No I think I would pass on the media, Go talk to the people of America, Sarah, the "media" doesn''t deserve you.
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by cacatua08 September 17, 2008 8:51 PM EDT
John McCain has already been castrated by the neocons who stuck him with Palin.

Joe Biden will do very well against the likes of Palin, and he will do it with grace. He has so much more perspective on the world stage that there is no comparison.
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by cacatua08 September 17, 2008 8:48 PM EDT
Well, for once you aren''t trashing Joe Biden. I noticed when Joe and McCain were on NBC''s "Today" show yesterday morning to be asked about the financial meltdown, and footage was shown of Obama and what he had to say, that Palin was neither consulted nor mentioned. It was as if she didn''t exist. How long did she last? Was it a week or longer before the media dropped her?

I guess that there were a thousnad people at her welcome-home party in Alaska, but what the National Media didn''t cover was that there were at least 1400 people at the same time at a huge Anti-Palin rally in Anchorage as well!
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