Pros And Cons In Letting Biden Be Biden

Washington Post: With Debate On Horizon, Loquacious Senator's Gaffes Give Democrats Reason For Concern

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Perry Bacon Jr..

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Introducing Sen. Barack Obama at a rally in Detroit on Sunday, his running mate did not hold back.

"John McCain said he'd follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell," said Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. "Well, let me tell you something: President Barack Obama will follow him to where he lives and then send him to hell."

Biden's latest ad-lib drew laughter and cheers from the crowd, but there has been a downside to the Democratic vice presidential nominee's freewheeling style: a string of comments that either don't reflect campaign positions or misstate basic facts.

Unlike his Republican counterpart, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Biden has not been shy about talking to reporters, but comments he has made since Obama chose him last month have presented Democrats with their own problems and revived the longtime senator's reputation for gaffes.

In an interview with CBS News that aired last week, Biden described how Franklin D. Roosevelt had appeared before the country on television in 1929 to explain the stock market crash. But Herbert Hoover was president in 1929, and televisions sets did not start appearing in American homes until a decade later.

In that same interview, asked about an Obama campaign commercial that mocked Sen. John McCain's lack of computer skills, Biden called the ad "terrible." A few hours later, after McCain's campaign highlighted the remark in several news releases, Obama aides put out a statement under Biden's name in which the senator from Delaware said he had not personally seen the commercial and did not have any concerns once he watched it.

The next day, confronted with a interview in which Biden had said he opposed the bailout of the insurance company American International Group, a move that Obama supported, the Democratic nominee said that "I think Joe should have waited" before commenting.

And Obama aides spent much of the week defending the candidate's backing of the construction of "clean coal" plants, after a video surfaced on the Internet that showed Biden at a campaign event saying he opposed clean coal. The coal industry is a major employer in Ohio and Pennsylvania, two key swing states where Biden is doing much of his campaigning, and Obama has pledged support for coal plants that emit less carbon dioxide than traditional plants.

The McCain campaign has jumped on the remarks to attack Obama, and the Republican National Committee has started a "Joe Biden Gaffe Clock" that includes dates and video of the senator's comments, which also have included repeated references to brigades of soldiers as "battalions."

"If this race is close, any mistake can be really exploited," said Dan Bartlett, a former top adviser to President Bush who is supporting McCain. "He has this unique capability for someone who is so smart on the issues making these mistakes."

David Wade, Biden's spokesman, defended his boss's "straight talk," adding: "Unlike other campaigns that sequester running mates, we'll proudly continue to unleash Joe Biden to be Joe Biden."

Obama himself has defended Biden, telling NBC last week, "I am very proud of the choice that I made."

And Dan Pfeiffer, Obama's communications director, rejected any suggestion that Biden's role in the campaign would be reduced or changed, calling him a "huge asset" who was "in the battleground states, dominating the media coverage."

Some Democrats have suggested -- as Biden himself did recently -- that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton would have been a better choice as Obama's running mate, but on the whole the party appears satisfied with him.

Kiki McLean, who was an adviser on Clinton's campaign and served on the staff of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) when he was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, said Biden's gaffes were "very human moments."

"He's very on-message on foreign policy and the economy," she said.

Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who advised the senator from Delaware during his own primary campaign, called the controversial remarks "Biden being Biden." Lake said focus groups of non-college-educated white voters, a group that has been a weak point for Obama, suggest Biden is helping sell Obama to skeptical audiences despite his occasional gaffes.

Biden has long been known for speaking for too long and making occasionally odd remarks, such as when he declared Obama "the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy" when Biden launched his White House bid in early 2007. A few months earlier he had spoken of the prevalence of Indian accents in Dunkin' Donuts and 7-Eleven stores.

Initially hailed by the party as someone who would add experience as well as appeal to key voting groups such as Catholics, Biden has drawn little attention in recent weeks, crowded out of the media spotlight first by Palin and now by the financial meltdown.

Biden often travels with fewer than a dozen reporters, and even his aggressive attacks on McCain have generated little attention in national news, although Obama aides point out he often makes the front pages of local newspapers in the cities he visits. At the same time, many of those papers ran stories about his coal comments this week as well.

Bartlett, who is not formally involved with the McCain campaign, described Biden as "a rhetorical train wreck." He added: "Every utterance matters. But when he was announced I considered him to be a very good pick, and I haven't really changed my opinion."

[yodaxl7]

Katie is a bit hypocrit!! She let Biden Gaffe and did not press on him in regard to his response on the bailout. The video above showed him making like 3 or 4 gaffe in a row. Biden said the bailout was 400 billion. He said Health plan stimulate economy. This guy needs to be institutionalized.

[brownpride46]

I AM PRO-CHOICE BUT ADAMANTLY OPPOSED TO LATE TERM ABORTIONS THAT OBAMA ADVOCATES! Palin cannot overturn Roe vs Wade. She knows her beliefs are NOT POLICY.

By the way, "The Boss" Springsteen sings at Obama-aide: "Were you BORN IN THE USA? need yer ''''riginal birth certificate to be President. Were you BORN IN THE USA?"

GOOGLE: OBAMA CRIMES (A DEMOCRAT WEBSITE!)

For you activists, spam your Senators & Reps like this:

Dear Honorable Anna Eshoo,

We voted for you and will continue to support you. Please vote NO on the bail out.

Also, even if Berg vs Obama 08cv4083 is dismissed, we kindly request that you urge Senator Obama to release his ''''''''''''''''original'''''''''''''''' birth certificate.

Thanks to GOOGLE and the information age, a logarithmically
growing constituency demands irrefutable proof that Senator Obama is indeed eligible for the Presidency. This is a sine qua non for our continued support.

No candidate for any office should ever consider him/herself above the Constitution.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Very Truly Yours,

Very Concerned Democrat

[amirightor]

You should actually watch the segment with Biden mentioning FDR. If you did, you''d know that Biden never mentioned "1929" when he was talking about the stock market crashing and FDR getting on TV to explain the situation. Two of the worst crashes occured during FDR''s tenure as President (i.e. http://mutualfunds.about.com/cs/history/p/crash8.htm and http://mutualfunds.about.com/cs/history/p/crash2.htm) and yes, there were TV sets around then! (i.e. http://www.tvhistory.tv/1935-1941.htm)

[hhroams]

All these whiners for Hillary need to dry it up. She didn''t raise the money, she didn''t get the votes, she tried to use racism against Obama and it backfired. She lost, move on!!!

[hhroams]

I saw were Dan Bartlett former White House chief of Staff was making commments, he might keep a low profile, I understand that he may be under subpoena by the new special prosecutor to testify before a Federal Grand Jury on political corruption in the Bush White House.

[promaclaura]

Posted by hbevis at 11:18 PM : Sep 30, 2008

I''ll be surprised with this one if it happens. Right now, Obama/Biden are winning and they look to hold the lead unless something big happens. Maybe this theory was pre-economy crisis, because the economy has certainly turned things in Obama''s favor even though it occured because of both parties.

Also, if I was Hillary, it would feel like an insult. After all, she may feel she should have been selected in the first place. I know there are alot of people who aren''t Hillary fans, but I believe that if she was the Presidential nominee that the would be farther ahead right now, she looks more apple pie regular guy to the voters.

This scenario would be very weird, one more iron thrown in this strange race.

[brownpride46]

If Biden drops out, and Hillary steps in for VP. I''m voting for the gun-toting, Tina Fey look alike for VP.

After Obama is impeached by Americans who value the Constitution, assuming the USA survives the riots, Hillary would sell our nukes to the Chinese.

Lets not forget the CLINTON LEGACY:Bank and mail fraud, violations of campaign finance laws, illegal foreign campaign funding, improper exports of sensitive technology, physical violence and threats of violence, solicitation of perjury, intimidation of witnesses, bribery of witnesses, attempted intimidation of prosecutors, perjury before congressional committees, lying in statements to federal investigators and regulatory officials, flight of witnesses, obstruction of justice, bribery of cabinet members, real estate fraud, tax fraud, drug trafficking, failure to investigate drug trafficking, bribery of state officials, use of state police for personal purposes, exchange of promotions or benefits for sexual favors, using state police to provide false court testimony, laundering of drug money through a state agency, false reports by medical examiners and others investigating suspicious deaths, the firing of the RTC and FBI director when these agencies were investigating Clinton and his associates, failure to conduct autopsies in suspicious deaths, providing jobs in return for silence by witnesses, drug abuse, improper acquisition and use of 900 FBI files, improper futures trading, murder, sexual abuse of employees,

[brownpride46]

Well the prediction that Biden will drop out after the VP debates is depressing.

I predict that we''ll elect Obama (aka Soetoro aka Dunham)President. Hurray! Then well-meaning Americans will IMPEACH him.

"Sorry. Not natural born citizen? No original birth certificate? Not born in the USA? Pack your bags! Back to your Inmate-Rezko-Financed home, folks."

RIOTS will follow.

The Stock Market will crash. Great Depression II will happen. Better hold on to yer Bibles and rifles, folks. Possum/squirrel souffle tonight! Now that''s good eatin''!

Biden, the PRO-IRAN GAFFE MACHINE, will be our President! Hurray! He''ll sell our nukes to Iran for food.

www.obamacrimes.com (A DEMOCRAT WEBSITE!!!)
www.mccaincrimes.com (to be fair)

A person (working for CBS, MSNBC, ABC, CNN, FOX, NY Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, etc.) may cause evil to others not only by actions but by inaction, and in either case he (or she) is justly accountable to them for the injury.

John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)

[libra127]

Generally, the feeling is that we should all go ahead and get it out there
to as many blog sites and personal email lists as is possible.

Posted by hbevis at 11:18 PM : Sep 30, 2008

Why ? What''s your point ?

[joelewiz75]

Ask yourself this questions, Do you trust Sarah Palin to make the right decisions during this current crisis? After all she has executive experience, she has hired lobbyists, she knows how to stonewall investigations.. and her lies are just so cute and adorable... "I told Washington Thanks, but no thanks to Bridge to Nowhere!".. "Alaska, We need to move on this while we still have Congressional Clout..." She would shake things up... and probably shake us down...
Gimmicks, Tricks and lies, is the change we need?

[ragnar30066]

I agree. Let Biden be Biden. The hatchet man who prevented Bork, a black man, from becoming a Supreme Court Justice. The "Senator from MBNA" who has been the champion of predatory lending, and the front man for the reversal of most of the laws from the Roosevelt era that protected "the little guy" from arbitrary and one sided increases in interest rates, fees, and fees on fees. The Senator whose own son is a lobbyist that squeezes taxpayer money out of him.

Biden is likable and you can''t help but like his being there for his kids. He even looks like my cousin. But as a Vice President all I can say is, let him retire early and continue being a super Dad for his kids. As a leader of America he is damaged beyond repair.

[hbevis]

Don''t be suprised if this happens...
ACTION ALERT: [supposedly] info from DNC SOURCE NOT VERIFIED
Hi all,
Let me share some info with you that I have gotten from excellent sources
within the DNC:
On or about October 5th, Biden will excuse himself from the ticket, citing
health problems, and he will be replaced by Hillary. This is timed to occur
after the VP debate on 10/2.
There have been talks all weekend about how to proceed with this info.
Generally, the feeling is that we should all go ahead and get it out there
to as many blog sites and personal email lists as is possible. I have
already seen a few short blurbs about this - the ''health problem'' cited in
those articles was aneurysm. Probably many of you have heard the same
rumblings.
However, at this point, with this inside info from the DNC, it looks like
this Obama strategy will be a go. Therefore, it seems that the best
strategy is to get out in front of this Obama maneuver, spell it out in
detail, and thereby expose it for the grand manipulation that it is.
So, et''s start mixing this one up and cut the Obamites off at the pass -
send this info out to as many people as you can - post about it on websites
and blogs - etc.

[donbl1]

Please let Biden be Biden. The man was a political dynamo out there in the primaries!!!!

1% of the vote and no delegates is hard to beat.

''Sides, he is a lot more fun to watch step in it from time to time.

I really think he is a pretty nice fellow but I do not think he is the sharpest knife in the drawer.............

[dj282008]

dand222,

I think you need to read some of the several thousands of posts of mine and then come talk to me. I am not a McCain Supporter

[ajmarine111]

Posted by kdellit

Neither is Obama.... a junior US Senator with only 3 years experience??? Running for POTUS?? Come on...get real....that isn''''t experience....Biden has more experience and he should be the one running for POTUS and Obama should be VEEP.

Posted by cwazywabt at 09:32 PM : Sep 30, 2008



That''s the way I see it.

If Palin''s not qualified, Obama''s not.

[dand222]

dj282008,

Get real. The only zealots around are conservatards, who have the unique inability to think for themselves and need to be spoon fed their beliefs. Why don''t you go out and walk with some dinosaurs like your goddess Palin.

[downsteamjim]

cwasywabit: So it is your opinion that the vice president should be more qualified than the President.

[downsteamjim]

kiddylit is right: Palin barely has more experience than Obama.

[dj282008]

When I close my eyes I see Brown Shirts around Obama, the same as Hitler. Obama Cultists get a life. Joe, you are to smart to be fooled, look into this, you will be scared to death. This man is a con job, a well schooled actor with a fake citizenship and maybe a fake marriage. He created a cult just like Waco and YOU were fooled into believing him! Read up on him, he is NOT the Messiah!


First off "a well schooled actor with a fake citizenship" Not proven yet their pal, they are still going through legal proceedings.

Secondly if you look at Obama and see Hitler, you need your eyes examed Big time

[downsteamjim]

David Koresh ''Believe''
Jim Jones ''Believe''
Barack Obama ''Believe''