he's held 2 of most important positions in washington and most of his peers all say he's one of the greatest minds of our generation on foreign affairs. a reporter said today during a luncheon discussing eastern european affairs by senators, biden ended up talking to them like he's lecturing them
it's politics. democrats will have a field day when romney is chosen as mccain's VP. this is the sad part of politics, but also entertaining.
So Biden was hanging out with a republican when he did that little song and dance? Who recorded and posted that little ditty?
I've no doubt a few of Karl Rove's little protégés' have been hard at work combing Biden's past for a while now yes.
I always liked Biden, among a few Democrates I actually like. Of course, Bill Clinton is at the top of the list I wanted Hillary to pick Biden, because he's a professional politician, and a very competent one. He doesn't pretend to be your neighbour or friend, just conduct the business professionally and diplomatically. It's a huge plus and very wise pick for Obama, to have a seasoned politician as his right hand.
well republicans have won the last 2 elections by playing dirty while democrats played nice. i think with biden, it's time for the dems to go on the attack. republicans are winning the game of politics lately and that's why we have one of the worst presidents of all time in president bush.
bill clinton is still arguably the most popular/well-known/most-liked politician of our time. if he could run for a 3rd term, he would beat any opponent the republican has to offer.
But he can't. And if Ronald Regan were still alive and could get another term he mop the floor with Clinton.
i know he can't. i said "IF" i'm talking about the living politicians right now. nobody comes close to bill clinton. there's a reason hillary is at the position she's at and poised to take the presidency in 2012. but i'd love to see regan v. clinton though
After doing some research, the one aspect of Biden that I think some of the people who are exited about him right now will have a problem with is that he is apparently an aggressive and almost militant supporter of Israel. Example#1: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yAZmO80dLfE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yAZmO80dLfE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Example#2: [rquoter] I once had the "privilege" of having Senator Joseph Biden rip a strip of hide off me. (figuratively) It was impressive and memorable. I would not want to be the Republicans when he really gets wound up. I believe that it was in '95 or '96 that I took a consulting client to meet Biden on the basis of an acquaintance I had with one of his staffers. The client did not want anything from Biden. He was one of those people who feel better about themselves if they can say that they know the famous. He was a name dropper. He was an Arab. We were sitting in Biden's office with a couple of staffers having a meaningless "small talk" session when Senator Joe arrived. After a minute or so Biden asked this man what he thought of the situation in the Middle East. My client said the appropriate thing for a typical "grip and grin" meeting. He expressed a modest hope for peace in the region. He was not a Palestinian and this was of fairly distant import for him, but, it was to be said. Biden's face turned red and he started shouting that the two of us knew there was no real chance of peace in the Middle East and that if we continued to "lie" to him we could get out of his office. He went on like that for some time. His diatribe actually became MORE violent and offensive as he continued for several minutes. He did not seem to realize that this poor fellow in an Armani suit was an industrialist and not responsible for the eternal catastrophe between Israel and the Arabs. He started screaming at me as well, saying that it was the responsibility of people like me to make the world a better place (tikkun olam maybe?) I would have told him to "stick it where the sun don't shine" and left but the Arab gentleman sat through it and so I had little choice but to do the same. If you were not experienced in this kind of thing it would have been hurtful, but it really didn't measure up to some of the behavior I have observed in flag officers. I suspect that the staffer I knew "set me up" somehow. In any event, I meant it when I said that Biden is a "sledgehammer." His argumentation is logical, passionate and usually (unlike the occasion mentioned,) delivered behind a screen of civility spread across a vast hostility. He is undeterred by unending reminders of events long gone by. McCain likes to call people "my friend" when he is working himself into a rage. Biden referred to McCain as "my friend" several times today at Springfield, Illinois. I think HE should debate McCain. I would pay to see that from the front row. pl [/rquoter] That is just a couple of examples. You can find more if you look. Though, of course, I doubt this is an issue which the Republicans will attack him on since they seem to agree with him here, though probably not for the same reasons (nutty, apocalyptical 'End-of-days' fantasies seem more their style). But he really does appear to be sincere and heartfelt in his 'Zionism', not just giving the APAC crowd a figurative BJ on the campaign trail, like many politicians do. Does this bother any of the self-described progressives like I think it will?
Nah. As shallow as this country is we could never vote for an old, saggy woman. I'm surprised you're already counting Obama out of the 2012 race. You don't think he'll get a second term after his landslide win against McCain?
Not that I was wavering anyway, but I think Biden's position provides additional reinforcement for those liberals/progressives like myself who believe our support of Israel is proper and necessary.
Yes, it does, but all the politicians do. The Israeli lobby is too strong. It is a dead issue until the Israelis exhaust themselves. This is not likely to happen soon. Look at how paranoid our population gets as they are manipulated by terrorism or fears or Russia. I am more concerned with his wasting a few trillion on a New Cold War, which is still possibly avoidable by a new administration. If the Democrats keep up the massive military spending, with the purposedly created huge budget deficit by the Republicans, the Obama Administration will be prety powerless to do much with issues like health care, energy independence etc.
Obama had a chance to cement himself as the candidate for "change". Instead he picked someone that screamed "more of the same".
Although I'm not saying this can't be done, I am interested in how you believe Obama-Biden could accomplish this goal short of taking a Chamberlain-like "take what you want" approach to aggression by Russia, Iran, et al.
If FDR were alive today and going against a still alive Reagan, he would crush him into Alf Landon land. Hell, even Andrew Jackson would beat any past but theoretically still alive Republican in history.
That's a good find, Otto, though one video and one strange rumor hardly add up to anything conclusive. I personally think the US unquestioning slavish support of Israel is our number 1 foreign policy problem, at the root of so many blunders and so much ill will. That said, I'm simply not shocked that any one candidate, or the much less important VP candidate, will have a variety of views that differ from mine. That's why I don't turn into a Nader-type voter, or in San Francisco, a Gonzalez-type voter. "My candidate must completely represent everything i believe or I take my ball and go home!" Meh, not so much. I am pragmatic, and I sense the same in Obama, which is the largest single reason I like him.
