Waking up at 10 AM after a fitful night of sleep, I quickly sprinted to my Iphone cradle, anxiously anticipating the fateful text message. "Text message from 622-62". This was it! "Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee." I rejoiced. Obama also seemed extremely excited at the prospects of an Obama/Biden '08 ticket. "Joe Biden is what so many others pretend to be – a statesman with sound judgment who doesn't have to hide behind bluster to keep America strong," he stated in front of an energized crowd in Springfield, Illinois, the same place where, 19 months ago, he announced his candidacy for President of the United States. So, the choice for VP has been made. Months of anticipation have finally ended.
But who is Joe Biden and how will he effect this election?
Biden has an unparalleled passion for politics. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1970 and has served ever since. Recently, he ran for president against Barack Obama in 2008, dropping out rather early because of low support levels. He has overcome great tragedy to be where he is today. Shortly after being elected to the US Senate in 1972, his wife and infant daughter were killed in a car accident. But through all the adversity, Senator Joe Biden has never lost his desire to serve the country for the public good. Standing next to Senator Barack Obama today, he seemed poised to overtake the Republicans and take back the White House for the Democratic Party. Considered one of the least wealthy members of Congress, Senator Biden has great appeal to the working class.
Quickly flip to MSNBC, CNN, FOX, or NBC and you will see just how much coverage of this story is monopolizing the media, not unexpectedly. This greatly aniticipted and major decision will be reviewed and analyzed continuoulsy by Democratic superdelegates, Republican strategists, talk show hosts, as well as the American people.
Biden is a seasoned veteran and has been around Washington for more than 30 years which has been viewed as both a negative and positive trait, so let us review the pros and cons of Obama's decision.
Con #1: The McCain camp says it best: “Biden has denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing — that Barack Obama is not ready to be President.” Shortly after Obama announced Biden to be his running mate, McCain introduced a brand new ad, showing a short clip of Senator Biden claiming that Obama lacked the experience to handle the Presidency. What the McCain camp fails to address is that Biden was also running for President at the time and that a candidate will say whatever is necessary to be elected. We must also remember that it is very common for a President and Vice President to scuffle in the primaries. Take for instance the 1960 Presidential Election. John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson battled in the primaries but when it came time to unify the party in the general election, they ran an extremely successful ticket and ultimately succeeded in beating Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge. As Democratic superdelegate Robert Zimmerman pointed out on CNN, most President and Vice Presidential candidates will squabble before the general election.
Con#2: Biden has been known to speak before he fully thinks out what he is saying. This has gotten him into trouble at times. But, as the Vice Presidential candidate, I expect his approach to be more measued and that he will assume more of an "attack dog" approach towards McCain, one that Barack Obama has shyed away from throughout the entire election process. He began during his speech today: "Ladies and gentlemen, your kitchen table is like mine. You sit there at night...and you talk, you talk about what you need. You talk about how much you are worried about being able to pay the bills. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's not a worry John McCain has to worry about...He'll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at." He passionately repeated the words "we literally cannot afford four more years" of the same Bush-McCain White House.
Pro #1: Biden could help ease some of the tension among senior party members who are still uncertain about Barack Obama. Party members who may not have been so sure about who Barack Obama is and what he stands for will be calmed by the enormously well respected Joe Biden.
Pro #2: Biden can help stop the Republican claims that Obama is rich and elitist (although last I checked McCain's net worth was near $40 million while Obama had not broken the $1 million mark). It is bewildering that McCain is worth more than 40 times Obama, and yet the McCain camp endlessly attempts to convince the American working class that Obama is the one who is elitist.
Pro#3: Most importantly, Biden can help fill the holes in the Obama campaign; the American working class voter, the Hillary Clinton supporters who are still tenative about fully supporting Obama. Polls still show that over a quarter of Clinton supporters say that they will be opting towards McCain in November. Although I think many are still bitter about the defeat and have not completely cooled, this number is still head-turning and could cost the Democrats if not dealt with efficiently and immediately. This is where Biden comes up huge for Senator Obama. As stated previously, Senator Biden is not the typical rich, manipulative politician that we have tolerated in Washington the last 7 1/2 years. The "American dream under eight years of Bush and McCain, that American dream is slipping away. I don't have to tell you that. You feel it in your lives. You see it in your shrinking wages, and the cost of everything from groceries to health care to college to filling up your car at the gas station. It keeps going up and up and up, and the future keeps receding further and further and further away as you reach for your dreams," Biden passionately declares. The Democratic Party is hoping that Biden's "straight talk" to working class voters will help secure victories in key swing states such as Ohio and West Virginia.
What do you think? Leave comments and I will do my best to reply to them and answer any questions that you may have.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
What Effect Will Joe Biden Have?
Posted by Alex at 6:24 PM
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3 comments:
being an elitist doesn't have anything to do with how much money you have. it has to do with how a person sees themself in relation to other people. if a person thinks they are more special than other people because they are smarter or richer or have a particular kind of education or job, THAt person is an elitist. a person can have a lot of money and yet not be an elitist. remember the sneetches...
First and foremost, I reject your cons as cons. ;)
Biden will be a great vice president. He has a ton (36 years?) of experience, and there will be no conflict of Obama's message of change. He also has wonderful political connections being who he is, not only within Washington, but among the common American people as well.
Honestly, if the McCain spends too much time attacking Biden, it won't do them any good. 1. Biden and McCain are friends. 2. Biden is just as if not more qualified than McCain to make and inform on bureaucratic foreign policy. 3. Biden is not running for president, Obama is, and believe it or not, it will show throughout the campaign process leading up to the general election especially if McCain keeps attacking Biden.
On a side note, Obama is worth well more than $1 million from his books and different speeches he has done, not to mention that he and his wife have fully paid off their college bills, and Obama is still making that lovely senate salary. But the republicans are not claiming that his elitism is related to his net worth. There argument is related to how Obama supposedly addresses the American people. In fact, how is Biden related to "Pro 2" at all, besides the fact that he can speak against it, as anyone can.
Good comments guys. I agree that money doesnt have everything to do with being elitist but its a start.
And brien, i completely agree that Biden will make a great VP, that is why "I rejoiced" :). I believe that McCain wont waste time attacking Biden because, if you think about, there isnt all that much to attack. The man is not only a great politician but a good person as well. The only way I can see the McCain camp putting out another ad about Biden is if he has another one of his verbal gafs that he is so prone to.
True, I guess you are right about the Obama salary issue. I was simply trying to back up the solid point, that Biden can help show Obama as un-elitist, as, like you said, most VP candidates could do (but I think Biden was the best choice)
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