Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. - The "OFFICIAL" Thread - complaints + wohoos

[Lunar]

EDIT: MORDEN WINS THE GOLD MEDAL FOR DISCOVERING THE VP FIRST.  This thread is a parasite on his greatness.

Redirect a lot of Biden chatter here please so that the forum will be able to talk about other issues too!

Edit: Don't forget that Biden will have his son in Iraq.  Gonna be hard to say that HE would rather lose a war than an election.

The evidence has been piling up beyond dispute.  Biden has been assigned a secret service detail, his family has been coalescing to Delaware, etc.  Every other VP candidate has been discredited - Hillary, Kaine, and Bayh.  I saw the Chet Edwards interview this morning, he *absolutely* sounded like someone who did not expect to be picked.  I suspect his name was leaked just to keep some mystery about the process as Kaine and Bayh were crossed off.  Anyway, there is no way that the Obama campaign would choose BIDEN to be the decoy as he is the most likely out of all of the VP contenders to make a slip and ruin his decoy status.  If the Obama campaign wanted to use one of the big three to disguise a secret Gore pick or whatever, they would have used Bayh.

So here is our possible Vice President:


Why did Obama's campaign choose this chap?

Well, I think, when it all comes down to it, a Vice President only really does three things.

1.  Make mistakes or piss people off.
2.  Debate the opposing VP
3.  Act as the #1 surrogate (but still relatively an extremely low surrogate) for the campaign


1.  Make mistakes or piss people off.

Biden is a mixed bag when it comes to this.  He is an extremely experienced campaigner and really suffers from over-talking more than anything else.  Most of his 'gaffes' have been based around showing racial insensitivity, which, if anything, should HELP Obama.  There have been threads about this and I think they raise a good point - can anyone name a non-racial Biden gaffe?  All he has is that "clean and articulate" comment and that Dunkin Donuts comment to that Indian.

Biden's biography offers both assistance and potential to create negative buzz.  He has a long legislative history and there are endless amounts of quotations one can dig out of his books and interviews over the last thirty ears.  His personal biography, however, with his wife and daughter tragically dying, draws sympathy.  It'd be nice if he wasn't from a pseudo-New England state, but as has been pointed out, he is the least wealthy senator.

His character is a mixed bag as well.  On one hand, he is very likable and tends to speak his mind - something that people [used to?] admire McCain for. 

However, there is one issue that Biden performs well in.  Bayh would make liberal activists less enthused and the media would cover their discontent with glee.  Kaine would make swing voters uncomfortable with his inexperience.  Biden represents a compromise of sorts - 95%+ of liberals and swing voters don't have any real problems with his ideology.

Oh, he's Catholic too and has roots in Scranton, PA.

2.  Debate the opposing VP

This is one of the few moments for the VP to shine or damage the ticket.  More famous VP moments have occurred during these few hours of campaigns in history than pretty much everything else VP's have done combined. 

This one of the few areas where most voters will interact with the vice-president and develop permanent perceptions of the vice-president and connect that with the ticket overall. 

Can anyone dispute that Biden is probably the most competent debater out of the VP prospects?

I do not think this debate should be underestimated. 

3.  Act as the #1 surrogate (but still relatively an extremely low surrogate) for the campaign

As I said, he is a seasoned campaigner and is fairly likable.  Biden has done extremely well, just as some random dude senator, at defusing powerful McCain attacks on foreign policy already.  Like the claim that Obama never held a hearing on Afghanistan?  Biden called that bullsh*t and released a paper detailing how these hearings were under his jurisdiction and Obama attended six of those hearings or something.  I remember reading that statement at the time and feeling his stock just went up.

Overall, he will be able to do what he does already - defend Obama on foreign policy affairs on talk shows and the media circuit, but carry a lot more stature and power as he does so.

If the debate focuses on economic matters, I suspect that he will be slightly less powerful.  But with the recent drum up about Georgia and Russia's refusal to obey the ceasefire, it might not be a bad idea to hedge one's bets on the idea that foreign policy issues could continue to be very important in the coming months.


Update:  Also, Biden regrets his vote for the War in Iraq and was a key sponsor of a failed compromise that would have prevented the war from occurring.  So mixed bag on the war.
He also is a "Washington Insider" but he doesn't really sound like one.
Biden also has called Obama unready to be president during debates.

[Sam Spade]

I had forgotten that his middle name was Robinette.  When Romney is picked, we'll have a Willard vs. a Robinette.  Nice.

[Keystone Phil]

Dear Barack,

Thank you! If you want me to text you my thanks, wait until 4:03 AM EST or some other random time.


Sincerely,

McCain supporter

[WalterMitty]

i dislike the fact that he has never missed an opportunity to kick dirt in the faces of the poor.

i also like his 'f' rating from the nra.

he is superior to willard romney.

[Reluctant Republican]

If the tickets were reversed, there would be  a50/50 chance Biden would get my vote. I truly respect the man’s life story and I think he’d be  a great president, regardless of how much we may disagree. I do believe however, that Obama risks being sort of overshadowed with this pick. Biden knows how to attract attention, and given that he has a multiple times the amount of experience that Obama has, I think we might see a lot of Democrats and general voters by the end of the campaign wishing the ticket was reversed.

[Lunar]

If the tickets were reversed, there would be  a50/50 chance Biden would get my vote. I truly respect the man’s life story and I think he’d be  a great president, regardless of how much we may disagree. I do believe however, that Obama risks being sort of overshadowed with this pick. Biden knows how to attract attention, and given that he has a multipletimes the amount of experience that Obama has, I think we might see a lot of Democrats and general voters by the end of the campaign wishing the ticket was reversed.

Well, if he draws more attention and it's positive attention, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[Lunar]

How did the story break?  Did Obama officials just decide to start confirming reports to the press at 1 am for no reason?  Do they just not care about the text message surprise anymore now that they have everyone's number?

Or do they really just like to give the breaking news to Larry King?

[Meeker]

I approve.

[Boris]

I like Biden. It'll make for one helluva VP debate if McCain chooses Romney.

[phk]

I approve.

[Ronnie]

I now officially favor Romney to be VP.

The debate would be historic.

[Keystone Phil]

I know officially favor Romney to be VP.

The debate would be historic.

Historic in the sense that I really wouldn't be rooting for someone against Biden.

[The Mikado]

How did the story break?  Did Obama officials just decide to start confirming reports to the press at 1 am for no reason?  Do they just not care about the text message surprise anymore now that they have everyone's number?

Or do they really just like to give the breaking news to Larry King?

Biden got a Secret Service detail.

[Lunar]

How did the story break?  Did Obama officials just decide to start confirming reports to the press at 1 am for no reason?  Do they just not care about the text message surprise anymore now that they have everyone's number?

Or do they really just like to give the breaking news to Larry King?

Biden got a Secret Service detail.

I posted that in my first post on this thread, yo.  I don't think ABC news breaking that tidbit was enough for it to become certain on Drudge, CNN, and so on.

The campaign confirmed it somewhere.

[Lunar]

I think Biden's son Jimmy in Iraq is a big plus too.  Biden can have a big moment in the debate or in his acceptance speak where he boosts his credibility by saying: "NO! We would not rather lose a war than lose an election, because my SON would be dead"

Anyone else think that would be powerful?

[Meeker]

I think Biden's son Jimmy in Iraq is a big plus too.  Biden can have a big moment in the debate or in his acceptance speak where he boosts his credibility by saying: "NO! We would not rather lose a war than lose an election, because my SON would be dead"

Anyone else think that would be powerful?

It'd be seen as using his son for political advantage.

Which it is.

[Keystone Phil]

I think Biden's son Jimmy in Iraq is a big plus too.  Biden can have a big moment in the debate or in his acceptance speak where he boosts his credibility by saying: "NO! We would not rather lose a war than lose an election, because my SON would be dead"

Anyone else think that would be powerful?

Uh, it's Beau.  

[Sam Spade]

Just FYI:

Today is the day that Biden (like all VPs) will be receiving the most national press coverage for the entirety of the campaign.. 

It's only downhill from here in terms of press coverage, unless he screws up (maybe with the exception of the debate, though that really depends on the year).

[Lunar]

I disagree on it being seen as used for political advantage, I don't think it would be seen that if he sounds like he is talking from the heart.

First of all, it's already a HUGE charge to say someone would rather lose a war than an election, that borders on treason.  I think an emotional, non-overused statement like that would not be seen as cheesy.

[Lunar]

I think Biden's son Jimmy in Iraq is a big plus too.  Biden can have a big moment in the debate or in his acceptance speak where he boosts his credibility by saying: "NO! We would not rather lose a war than lose an election, because my SON would be dead"

Anyone else think that would be powerful?

Uh, it's Beau. 

You're right, I thought he had another son.  I thought I just heard CNN call him Jimmy, eh.

[Lunar]

How did the story break?  Did Obama officials just decide to start confirming reports to the press at 1 am for no reason?  Do they just not care about the text message surprise anymore now that they have everyone's number?

Or do they really just like to give the breaking news to Larry King?

Biden got a Secret Service detail.

I posted that in my first post on this thread, yo.  I don't think ABC news breaking that tidbit was enough for it to become certain on Drudge, CNN, and so on.

The campaign confirmed it somewhere.

Apparently "John King" broke the story at 12:42 am according to Larry King's talking head analyst. 

[Nutmeg]

In the now-locked "rumors" thread, the giant photo of Biden in the last post reveals a long stray hair on his right sleeve.

Just sayin'.

[Lunar]

In the now-locked "rumors" thread, the giant photo of Biden in the last post reveals a long stray hair on his right sleeve.

Just sayin'.

I can't see it but I am amused by the fact that you scrolled all the way over to the far right of the image to inspect Biden's details, haha.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Well, now Obama can count on Delaware's 3 electoral votes.

/snark

[Lunar]

In the now-locked "rumors" thread, the giant photo of Biden in the last post reveals a long stray hair on his right sleeve.

Just sayin'.

I can't see it but I am amused by the fact that you scrolled all the way over to the far right of the image to inspect Biden's details, haha.

Nevermind, I see it, I was thinking stage right.