Obama chooses Biden


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/us...4biden.html?hp

I really like Sen Biden...always have. I dont always agree with his views but like his bluntness and he appears to be a good man !

YES! I think Joe Biden is the perfect choice. 35 years in the Senate. Speaks his mind. Extremely knowlegable on Foreign Policy. Kind of forces McCain to chose Romney. Joe Biden would slice and dice the other two and I know will do the same with Romney. Now the Vice Presidental debates will be as interesting to me as the Presidental debates.

Joe Biden represents the middle-class. He's "everyman". Takes the train to work everyday. Has debt just like most of America. And what I particularly love is the way he can take out an opponent with that wonderful charming Irish smile on his face.

Once again, I admire Senator Obama's wise decision in selecting Joe Biden. So, to Senator Obama.

The Obama/Biden ticket is :#1:

YIPPEE!!!

It is a good choice. Most deserving. It brings a good balance to the ticket.

We knew it last night about 10:00.

Although Joe always said he didn't want the job, I guess when opportunity presented
itself....

Back in 1991 when I was in a quandary about what to do when the U of MN Law Library/School questioned my mental health when I wanted to talk to potential employers WITHIN the law librarianship field about my experiences with a niche in law librarianship service to survivors/victims of crimes, Senator Joseph Biden, then Chairman of the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary sent me a letter dated October 17, 1991:

"Thank you for your letter and your request for assistance. It is general policy of the Judiciary Committee not to intercede in individual matters. However, I do appreciate your sharing with me the details of your situation. Again, thank you for your letter. Sincerely, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Chairman."

Most of the US Senators whom I wrote-- I wrote all 100 of them-- did not bother to even respond or else told me I should be contacting the Senator for Minnesota which was where I was when I wrote most of these US Senators.

I thought I had to get some clout behind me as the former Director of the U of MN Law School Library was the Law Librarian of Congress-- M. Kathleen Price. I was not sure where the tactic of putting my mental health in question was coming from at that time. Still do not know how this approach came about at the U of MN.

The niche is the one I found after my then high school English teacher Mrs. Mitchell's daughter Michelle was murdered on February 24, 1976 near the University of Nevada, Reno campus. February 24 is also my birthday. In 1976, I had searched for materials to help my fellow Wooster High School classmates cope with this murder investigation in Reno, NV area libraries but found next to nothing. I had also been looking for stuff that my English teacher and her family but also could not find anything.

I did think this niche was more than just an individual matter especially when one of the biggest public law libraries in the US staff-- the U of MN-- suggested that I get mental health counseling just for wanting to be honest about an interest in doing something about a niche in services towards a rather large group of people within the legal community.

I had also just completed cataloging all the computer files on WESTLAW in a national project the summer of 1991 and thought I could be honest about what I had experienced to get my four degrees which included a law degree from the U of MN (Class of 1989).


A few law librarians like Robert Berring of the UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) had told me to be honest about this interest in victims/survivors' of crimes as they thought it would come out at some point anyway. I just had these problems with where my employment references would be coming from -- the U of MN Law Library.

Anyway, Senator Biden seems like a good choice from my limited experiences with this US Senator.

Didn't Biden get into trouble for something a few year's back? I can't remember if it was a criminal violation or some sort of scandal.

Originally Posted by TomW

Didn't Biden get into trouble for something a few year's back? I can't remember if it was a criminal violation or some sort of scandal.

It was during his first run for the presidency I think that was in 1988. He gave a speech
where he plegerized (?) a remark. I know no one wants to hear this, but it was a mistake.

Joe writes his own speeches, he had the right remark (the persons' name to whom credit was due) in his notes, and just forgot and left it out. It wasn't until the press made a big deal of it, that he realized what he did.

But the damage was done.

I angers me when this is brought up. It was 20 years ago. He has paid for his mistake.

If this is the ONLY thing they can find wrong with him, then he's not such a bad guy

Let it go!!

What a non-surprise. If there was ever proof that the DNC controls the candidate and all choices, this is it.

All of the past rhetoric on "change" is now hinged on doubling-up with a 36-year member of the Senate, lynchpin of the Democratic National Committee backroom-club, and one of the biggest long-term Washington establishment-types there is.

After there has been so much "discussion" on Sen. McCain's age and health, and how that could affect his ability to complete his term, the Democratic Party in utter irony now has a 65-year-old VP selectee with a medical history of brain aneurysms. Just goes to show that age and medical history really should not be a show-stopper for competent folk - and it sure is peculiar how now it makes sense when the looking-glass is flipped.

I've watched Sen. Biden at Judiciary Committee hearings. I don't doubt his sincerity in his positions and respect his knowledge of government and competence as a Senator. He does know the business of Federal Government, been privy to the information/intelligence that never sees the light-of-day, and is a sharp guy. However, to call him a change-agent would be a misnomer. He's been a Senator since the Nixon administration, a staunch anti-drug proponent and well-versed in foreign policy.

Sen. Biden's nomination has the appearance as a "going-away" gift after all those years as a Senator - the nomination for VP for someone whose two failed attempts to achieve success along the campaign trail to garnish the Democratic Presidential nomination. Whether the Democrats are successful or not, this nomination is a capstone on Sen. Biden's career in Congress, and his retirement from the Senate (whether or not he becomes the VP) will undoubtably clear the way for his son, Beau (the current Attorney General for Delaware) to seek his father's Senatorial seat.

So, Change is still Washington business-as-usual. Again, what a non-surprise!

The brain aneurysm (one) occured over 25 years ago.

Even with cancer you get a clean bill of health after 5 years.

I don't know about you, but 65 is not old now. Joe is a very YOUNG 65 at that.

So what's the problem?

Frankly, I was for Joe Biden as a Democratic choice in the primaries. (I was also hoping that John McCain would win on the GOP side.) I'm very, very pleased with Biden's impending nomination as the candidate for VP. He is an experienced, thoughtful, no nonsense legislator.

BUT...now we won't have to wait very long for the Obama critics to begin to rag on the choice, saying that Obama really isn't an agent of change. Rather, they will say, he is an old school politician as proven by his choice of a running mate with undeniable and deep experience.

By the way, those critics will be the same people who have complained that a 47-year old can't possibly have enough experience to be President.

I stay out of the political forum, but I agree Biden is an excellent, excellent choice! An extremely intelligent man with authority on foreign policy. A man that will help Obama bring Americas standards back to the MAJORITY of peoples concerns. We must get all Americans to vote this and every election. Great good things can and will be forthcoming for the future of the world. Lets get this young free country back on track and show the world our intelligence and humanitarian way starting within our borders and setting an example to the world. I am excited about the prospects of the next several years!!... :bigthumbsup: ..

Originally Posted by chelsea24

YES! I think Joe Biden is the perfect choice. 35 years in the Senate. Speaks his mind. Extremely knowlegable on Foreign Policy. Kind of forces McCain to chose Romney. Joe Biden would slice and dice the other two and I know will do the same with Romney. Now the Vice Presidental debates will be as interesting to me as the Presidental debates.

Joe Biden represents the middle-class. He's "everyman". Takes the train to work everyday. Has debt just like most of America. And what I particularly love is the way he can take out an opponent with that wonderful charming Irish smile on his face.

Once again, I admire Senator Obama's wise decision in selecting Joe Biden. So, to Senator Obama.

The Obama/Biden ticket is :#1:

I see a BIG difference between a young 65 and a doddering old 72. 72 doesn't have to be old, but IMHO on McCain it is. Just my opinion!

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

Frankly, I was for Joe Biden as a Democratic choice in the primaries. (I was also hoping that John McCain would win on the GOP side.) I'm very, very pleased with Biden's impending nomination as the candidate for VP. He is an experienced, thoughtful, no nonsense legislator.

BUT...now we won't have to wait very long for the Obama critics to begin to rag on the choice, saying that Obama really isn't an agent of change. Rather, they will say, he is an old school politician as proven by his choice of a running mate with undeniable and deep experience.

By the way, those critics will be the same people who have complained that a 47-year old can't possibly have enough experience to be President.

We both agree that Sen. Biden is an experienced, thoughtful, no nonsense legislator. Of all within the orginal pool of Democratic candidates, Sen. Biden is still THE most knowledgeable about how government works, foreign policy, national security and the law.

If it's considered "ragging" that the obvious has happened, that being the fact that old school Washington politics have now jumped to the forefront, so be it. The choice again was not Sen. Obama's to make, but the DNC's as the DNC controls the party, the money and the favors. This was no king-to-be picking his heir-apparent prince, but a political machine hedging its bets. Good old-fashioned politicking!

The agent-of-change is a slogan, nothing more. The selected tag-team by virtue of the backgrounds of the team-mates shows it better than words here can describe.

As far as whether a 47-year-old has sufficient experience to be president - yes, that can happen. However, a few years in a state senate and spending more time on the campaign circuit during 2/3rds of a single U.S. Senate term than being a working Senator; and no knowledge or experience of how Defense, State or Homeland Security do its missions results in an exceptionally slim curriculum vita.

An "experienced" Democratic ticket of a Sen. Biden with Sen. Obama understudying as VP would have been dynamic.

Bring on the games! Woo Hooo!!! Did anyone watch Obama today? I DID!

Steve, your posts suggesting that Senator Obama simply does what he's told by the Democratic National Committee is a strongly-held belief on your part, I'm sure. But to me it's not totally logical. I've tried to examine the facts to see how you've come to your conclusion.

Obama is the one who put together the organization to create and execute the strategy to defeat Hillary Clinton long before she actually conceded defeat. He and his people are the ones who created the online fund-raising machine which has not only dramatically out-fundraised any of the presidential candidates from either party, but has also provided funding to a great number of Democratic candidates for Congress in key states and congressional districts. It has been the people that he's surrounded himself with, not the DNC which has accomplished this. In this election the DNC has been along for the ride and from all that I've seen, Senator Obama has pretty much gotten things his way.

An example of Obama's independence from the DNC might be the way he was able to prevail over Senator Clinton's last-minute attempt to pick up electoral votes from Michigan and Florida. If the DNC really had the ability to influence that situation, who should have prevailed--the well-established Clinton machine or the newbie from Chicago? By that time it had already become clear that Obama had created enough political currency to get the DNC to do things his way, not the reverse. It was Obama that steamrolled the super-delegates to support him, not what might have been expected from a DNC influenced by a still-popular two term ex-President and his Senator wife from the state with the second-largest number of electoral votes in the country. Remember the situation at that time--had the DNC decided to count all the MI and FL votes and influence the super-delegates, Hillary Clinton could still have seized the nomination. But that's not what happened.

So when I read your allegation that Obama is simply a tool of the DNC smoke-filled rooms, I ask WHY? The DNC owes a lot more to Barack Obama than he owes them. Given the same set of facts that somehow has lead you to your conclusion, I come down on the opposite side. If anyone has created a strong political base, it's Obama. The DNC and a whole lot of candidates for Congress will come away from the November election with a huge debt of gratitude to Obama. If he wins the presidency, it will be he who will be in a position to collect a huge number of political IOU's, not the DNC. He'll have the political currency because he created it, not the DNC.