He doesn’t pose for the camera. He’s just Joe Biden. He runs his mouth. He screws up. He’s just human. He has a second wife, not because he screwed up his first marriage, but because he fell in love with someone after a tragedy in his life.
He gets on a train every day to go home to his family. I.e., “I love working for American. But at the end of the day, I know where the priorities are…”
He’s an attack dog, but he’s an attack dog who can do it with a smile on his face.
Joe Biden has been in Washington for many years. But he is a senator who is interested in you. YOU.
Basically, I trust a guy who is human. Biden doesn’t try to be anything other than that.
Update: And, by the way, I think Joe Biden is the epitome of a man who is good for women. He just is. It’s a wonderful obsession for him, and I love him for it.
Zifnab
Biden is from the old boy Democrats club – the same club that gave us Kennedy and Kerry and Dodd and Schumer. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it seems like the Democrats are taking a step back towards their roots. And that is what it is.
And Biden has been running for President since, what? 1988? I’m sure he’ll do well on the campaign trail. He’s been waiting his whole life for this.
Keila
I agree with everything you just said except the part about him being good for women. He’s been pretty consistently strong on violence against women, but his record on reproductive rights is poor. He voted for the partial birth abortion ban, opposes federal funding for abortions and is pro abstinence-only education. He could be a lot worse (see Kaine, Bayh), but he’s hardly the “epitome of a man who is good for women”.
Still excited, though. I want to see more of his “7 houses” style rhetoric.
Dennis - SGMM
Biden ran in ’88 and in this year and that’s it. He’s not exactly the perpetual candidate. He was smart enough to call upon the estimable Juan Cole to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2004 regarding violence between the US military and the Mahdi Army. Biden did so because he’d read one of Cole’s journal articles on the Sadr movement. I wonder how many other Senators actually read articles in scholarly journals that touch on subjects affecting their committees.
And he’s never shot anyone in the face.
Ted
Obama/Biden leaves a hole wide nuff for a Mack Truck but only with Sarah Palin as the driver!
Chris O.
I have no idea at all what you mean by the women thing in the update. Am I the only one?
matt
Ha! I was just going to ask the same thing. It sounds like something Bush would say about someone.
But yeah, I’m a Biden fan as well.
Conservatively Liberal
Instead of the bloviating from the right and the MSM regarding Obama choosing Biden, could one reason be that he seeks to reassure ‘old Democrats’ that while he is the change candidate, he does not intend on leaving them in the dust? Obama has made it clear that he wants to work together with people who want to work with him. He is reaching out to everyone (even though the dead-enders and ratfuckers deny it) to make it clear that this is not about him, it is about everyone who cares.
I like Biden. He is plain spoken and he relates to plain people. He is not one to put on airs, instead he is down to earth. No he is not perfect, but is anyone? We all make gaffes in life, it is just that we are not given a national stage to do it on so we are ignored. He is not, and he has taken the heat over it and he is still standing.
His dedication to his family is clear. After losing his wife and daughter, he swore that he would be there for his sons and he has followed through with that commitment. Warts and all, Biden is an excellent choice for Obama and I am very happy with it. Our candidates are two regular guys who have worked their way up to where they are today, nobody had to hold their hands or pay to clean up their messes.
I bet it just irks the Republicans to no end that Obama has been only married once, and Biden has been married twice but only because his first wife was killed. Not because she was crippled and he found a Sugar Mama who looked better, unlike another candidate we all know.
My wife and I are both on our first marriage (22 happy years next month!), and we have two beautiful kids as a result of it. We know and appreciate how hard it is for some people to stay together, and we have nothing but admiration for those who make the commitment and stay with it. Some say that having a happy marriage is work, but I disagree. A good marriage is where each spouse respects and cares for the other, where they are each others best friend and they don’t allow anyone to change that. That does not require work, just attention. ;)
Barack and Michelle have this, as do Joe and Jill. These are strong people in strong relationships, and that shows me that they make commitments and keep them. That they know what is important, and they focus on it.
Barack and Joe are a good match, yet they differ in significant ways that compliment each other. Barack made the right choice in offering it to Joe, and Joe made the right choice in accepting.
Win win. :)
JoyceH
One of the best things about Biden on the ticket is that the media simply likes him – and they like him because he’s genuinely likable.
I think they’re starting to get over their infatuation with McCain, and since they can’t admit that they were foolish to crush on him in the first place, they have to tell themselves ‘oh, how he’s CHANGED’ and be all disappointed and disillusioned, rather than admit that they were taken in by image and swagger and he was always a mean old fart. And being disillusioned will hopefully make them tougher on McCain that they would be if they’d never liked him in the first place.
So ‘hey, there’s Biden – good old Joe!’ sort of reinforces in their minds that you’re supposed to like NICE people, not nasty old creeps just because they’re colorful and good copy.
Delia
Sort of like what Rachel Maddow was saying early this evening. Joe Biden is one of the few people in Washington who’s not creepy. He commutes home every night to his wife. He doesn’t make a ton of money doing creepy stuff. She kind of freaked out Tweety and whoever else was on with him by implying that most people in government were, in fact, creepy.
Martin
Biden has been a big driver on women’s issues. He wrote the Violence Against Women Act. He’s pushed for funding for women’s shelters, expansion of access to birth control, and some other things. NARAL gives him a 60% approval, mainly because he’s not a big crusader on abortion rights. He’s pro-choice, but he’s not willing to put his political life on the line for late-term, etc.
He’s been accused of not fighting hard enough for Anita Hill in the Thomas hearing. He was pretty much the only one there on Hill’s side, and Thomas did get confirmed, so a little 20-20 hindsight flogging is understandable.
But really, he’s a pro-choice family man who fought harder than anyone on violence issues. His relationship with NARAL and similar groups is a bit strained because he couldn’t get them to focus on violence issues when they were constantly pushing on reproduction, and they felt he wasn’t pushing enough on reproduction when he was focused on violence. So they focus on his faults rather than on the positives that he brought. Pretty normal stuff in politics.
I haven’t seen any reaction from the gay community. Biden is opposed to marriage equality but also opposed to a marriage amendment. My sense is that if enough states approve it, he’ll yield on the issue. But he’s balancing Obama out in the wrong direction for them.
Glocksman
My reservations about both Obama and Biden hinge on their 2A stances and support for more gun bans.
That said, this gun owner realizes that there’s more at stake this time around than gun rights and I’m supporting Obama with both my vote and my hard earned cash, while crossing my fingers and hoping the ‘Blue Dogs’ in the House will prevent any more bullshit such as the late, unlamented AWB from being passed.
The best of both worlds, in other words. :)
Geoduck
Re: the woman addition to the original post. That might have been a reaction to some liberal blogs (Shakesville, for one) tearing into Biden over his (perceived) misogyny and lack of support for women’s issues.
Dennis - SGMM
Why they’re no more creepy than any other bunch of Mandarins who, having established themselves in power are convinced that their position is the result of merit. That they spend a large part of their time raising money to maintain themselves in power, that most of them are totally out of touch with their constituents, that most of them would rather score points on the opposite party rather than working for the betterment of their country doesn’t make them creepy.
Their country is them, that’s what makes them creepy.
zuzu's petals
OT to Michael D –
I just discovered where you can buy “official” Obama swag without worrying about campaign contribution rules:
Barack Obama Store
fleinn
*sigh* Why are you people so goddamn dim? Obama just chose the anti- Hillary and democratic party core fat cat choice – and he’s using the republican noise- machine message to get away with it. No, he’s even fucking cheered for doing it. It’s a fucking stroke of genius, and you’re going on about Women’s bloody issues? AAAAARRRRGGHHHHH!!!!
WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS, HUH! %¤#”&%”!
TenguPhule
Because we really need to let Republicans arm themselves better before sending the stormtroopers after them.
On the other hand, it’s a great excuse to drop Hellfire missiles on their bunkers/homes.
TenguPhule
The Blue Dogs are going to be up against the wall right after the Republican faithful are mowed down.
Next.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
I like him because he used to date my Mom’s roommate when she was in college. Also, when I was 16, my social studies class went on a field trip to D.C. Biden took us into his office. I got into an argument with him about marijuana legalization. My position was that it should be legal because there’s no reason for it not to be. His retort was that insurance costs would rise, and that would adversely impact the general public. Being 16, and dumb, I had no rebuttal to this. After my class left, he put his arm around me and told me hang in there and keep studying politics.
I’ve met the man. He’s a good guy, and fuck anyone who says otherwise. I don’t agree with him on every position (I still disagree with him about the marijuana thing), but then I don’t agree with Obama on every position either. I’m voting for competent and ideologically sane leadership, not a mirror.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
I should add that this is the first time in my life that I feel genuinely proud to have come from the small, crappy, forgettable, cancer- and HIV- and heroin addiction-riddled state of Delaware.
linda
i’m definitely warming up to him, the more i read of his history. and i think he’s going to turn out to be a most excellent choice. i am definitely a fan of mom:
As a boy, Biden took endless ribbing from classmates for a stutter he later overcame. Much of the time, the nuns tried to help. But when a seventh-grade teacher mimicked Bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-Biden’s stutter in front of the class, his mother, Jean, demanded a meeting with the principal and the offending nun. “If you ever speak to my son like that again, I’ll come back and rip that bonnet off your head,” she said. Later, when then-Senator Biden told her he was going to visit the pope, she said: “Don’t you kiss his ring.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0827/p01s07-uspo.html?page=2
Georgette Orwell
“That said, this gun owner realizes that there’s more at stake this time around than gun rights….”
“I’m voting for competent and ideologically sane leadership, not a mirror.”
Comments like that (and many more on this thread and site) are extremely encouraging, reassuring me that some people actually put intelligent thought into making political choices. Sometimes it’s easy to forget.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
I was bored, so I checked out the Redstate reaction to Biden. It includes this tidbit:
Did you know that John McCain was a POW? He was rotting in captivity while Biden was running government. So vote for McCain!
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
Thank you!
cleek
lemme guess… they don’t like Biden, and predict his presence will ensure McCain’s glorious victory ?
therefore, Biden has more experience than McCain.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
They don’t have a Senate in prison. Did you know McCain was a POW?
Conservatively Liberal
Did you know Obama was not a POW? Neither was Biden. ;)
Michael D.
zuzu’s petals: Thank you!!!
tim
Michael, mindless fan-boy propaganda is just that regardless from which side it originates.
Biden is a beltway insider fat cat.
The NEW POLITICS OF CHANGE are a joke.
Biden has enabled Bush the last eight years just like Nancy and Harry and all the rest. Why do folks not pay more attention to ACTIONS, rather than being distracted by the pretty words of bullshit which flow from politicians’ mouths?
Grow up.
Tim Trollenstein
Freemark
And let’s not forget. He came up with the “a noun, a verb, and 9/11″line.
He may not be perfect but if he campaigns like that I’ll be pretty happy he’s the pick. And his ‘seven kitchens’ line indicates he will do just that.
gbear
Grow up = Gimme a candidate who does EVERYTHING MY WAY or I hold my breath until I turn blue. Then you’ll be sorry.
Dug Jay
As Dan points out, Biden might not win a lot of fans among certain large elements of the much vaunted Obama youth voters:
iluvsummr
Funny you mention this — I got an email (see below) from NARAL yesterday after the Biden pick. Of course they avoided mentioning the specific votes they disagreed with him on, since the email is essentially an endorsement in spite of his “mixed choice” record.
1jpb
C-span did a really interesting extended interview with him. Folks should check it out if they want know a bit more.
Use “biden profile” to search at cspan.com. The interview is from Sept 2006.
diakron
Reading this post reminded me of K-Lo’s hagiographic adorations of Romney.
JoyceH
So? Obama already has the youth vote. With Biden on the ticket, when Obama says, “This is OUR time,” the middle-aged and older white folks get ‘that’s us, too’, rather than ‘the kids are taking over’.
Doctor Jay
Just a quibble. You say Biden is the “epitome of a man who’s good for women” That’s way overboard. George Clooney is the epitome of a man who’s good for women, not Joe Biden.
You can make a case that Biden is good for women, but he’s hardly “the epitome”.
Billy K
In 2005, Joe Biden, the Democratic Senator from Delaware (home the world’s largest issuer of credit cards) was a central figure lobbying for passage of S.256 the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.
This is the bill that stripped away many of the protections individuals had when falling into bankruptcy. Amendments to protect victims of identity theft, and those who fell into debt due to medical or natural catastrophes, and to provide homestead exemptions were all rejected.
http://jinchi.blogspot.com/2007/03/joe-biden-on-bankruptcy-bill-it-was-all.html
Still waiting for my explanation for this one. Until then, Biden is just full of shit as far as I’m concerned.
HumboldtBlue
Well Billy, the explanation is pretty simple — Biden was representing his constituents. Delaware’s tax laws are very lax, the state has the most registered corporate domain names in the world, including credit companies. yeah, it’s a lousy bill that has hurt, but it’s akin to an Oklahoma Rep backing oil and gas production.
HumboldtBlue
That should read corporate charters, not domain names.
Kirk
I expect to see Biden targeted through two avenues.
First, expect to see the resurrection of his 1987 issues – plagiarism and resume padding. In the overall scheme of things, both are minor, but that won’t stop them from being of use in a line to the effect of, “So, how can you trust a known liar?” In the same vein, I’d not be surprised to see reminders of his “off-limits” questions during the Bork and Thomas vetting. (The hammer then was, “So, how does this legal expert forget that these questions are illegal?”)
Second, expect to see an attack into his foreign relations cred. Specifically using the meeting with Kamal Kharrazi (Iranian Foreign Minister) at Davos in 2004. “Soft on Iran” is only part of what spills out of that.
It will be ugly.
jbarntt
Basically, I trust a guy who is human. Biden doesn’t try to be anything other than that.
So Biden is a good choice because he is a human ? Last I heard Mike Huckabee never claimed to be anything else either. So I guess he would have been a good choice for The One’s veep ?
It’s nice that you trust a guy to be veep because he is human. Your requirements are a bit slim, as all that seems to exclude are space aliens.
As to Biden not trying to pretend to be something other than a human being, I’m now wondering why he ever felt it necessary. If you know something about this “man”, for God’s sake say it !