Apparently there is lots of activity at Biden’s house. Kaine, Bayh, and Clinton have all confirmed that it is none of them. Chet Edwards has not said that it isn’t him yet but that Biden house flurry would have to be a pretty good head fake…
By tomorrow we will know.
[QUOTE=DSeid]
Apparently there is lots of activity at Biden’s house. Kaine, Bayh, and Clinton have all confirmed that it is none of them. Chet Edwards has not said that it isn’t him yet but that Biden house flurry would have to be a pretty good head fake…
By tomorrow we will know.
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Where are you reading about activity at the Biden house?
…if internet speculation is correct.
There’s discussion about a chartered flight this morning from New Castle, DE to Chicago (Midway), IL. And a return flight back to New Castle this evening, just before the frenzy at the Biden house (which I’ve since found).
Go internet sleuths!
Secret Service sent to Biden’s house according to ABC News.
[QUOTE=VoluntaryPlan]
Secret Service sent to Biden’s house according to ABC News.
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And I tried to find a second source, and can’t find a thing. So this may or may not be valid. This was a single unnamed source at ABC.
ETA: No reflection on you, VoluntaryPlan, I was coming in to post the same thing. 
[QUOTE=VoluntaryPlan]
Secret Service sent to Biden’s house according to ABC News.
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I figured we’d find out who the VP was before the text message.
Biden? Oh, jeez. I sure hope not. A tiny-state has-been weird-haired blowhard and egotist, IMHO. We’ll soon know for sure. =Sigh=
CNN is saying Biden for sure.
ETA: they have a giant red “breaking news!” banner saying so, but no article that I can find. Hrmph.
[QUOTE=Queen Bruin]
CNN is saying Biden for sure.
ETA: they have a giant red “breaking news!” banner saying so, but no article that I can find. Hrmph.
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[QUOTE=Queen Bruin]
Confirmation.
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Hmm. Biden, eh? I’m not absolutely horrified. Obama could have picked worse.
All three cable news networks are saying it’s Biden for sure. I think the Secret Service gave it away. No way would the SS be sent his house if Joe wasn’t the Guy.
I like the choice. I like his personality. I like his experience. I like his foreign policy cred and I think he really brings some much needed brass knuckles to the Obama campaign.
Biden’s a poor choice. I thought Obama had better instincts than that. Two senators on the ticket is not a good idea. Biden has tried for the presidency several times and flamed out badly. He’s got a history of foot-in-mouth disease. He was knocked out of the 1988 race when it was discovered that he plagiarized one of his college term papers.
He’s got a very similar background to Obama - he graduated wtih a law degree, worked for a couple of years as a lawyer, and went straight into the Senate. He’s been there most of his adult life. No executive experience, no private sector experience, no military experience.
I’ve give Biden credit for being a serious, thoughtful politician. He was considered a ‘hawk’ during the Clinton administration, and was a supporter of Bush’s Iraq war plans and one of the few Democrats who continued to support the war and oppose a withdrawal.
But on paper, it’s a strange pick. I’m not sure what Biden brings to the table that Obama doesn’t already have. He has some gravitas I suppose, but there had to be better picks out there.
Yeah Biden is a terrible choice.
I know, it’s gotta be killing you, Sam. Obama making mistake after mistake like this. 
I think this will work just fine. I was softening toward Clinton and would have been OK with that pick, but Bill’s attitude was basically proof that it wasn’t happening.
There is always the possibility for a huge head-fake, but I really like Biden- he was probably second to Clark in my list, and I am surprisingly OK with it. He was a tough sell as a presidential candidate, but I really like the idea of him as lead attack-dog/jokester/baby-kisser. It fits.
For one thing, Biden’s one of the best foreign policy guys in Congress. He’s actually better than McCain on that stuff.
I’m also inclined to take Obama at his word when he describes the qualities he was looking for. Biden could certainly step in and take over as President (and that’s something the candidates always have to put aside strategic factors and really think about), he would be very solid as an advisor and he’s somebody who would absolutely have no problem telling Barack he was wrong if he had to. Biden is going to be his own guy. I think Baye or Kaine would have been more inclined to become Obama’s bitches. I don’t think he likes yes men.
[QUOTE=Sam Stone]
But on paper, it’s a strange pick. I’m not sure what Biden brings to the table that Obama doesn’t already have. He has some gravitas I suppose, but there had to be better picks out there.
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I think Biden is on the ticket out of necessity. Nobody saw the Russia-Georgia conflict happening before it did, and the image of Obama being in Hawaii on vacation while McCain was talking tough to the Russians was sure to come up at some point during the campaign. Now he can say his number two guy was actually over there helping to diffuse the whole situation.
Biden is from Penna and is Irish Catholic - two demographics that Obama has had difficulty winning over. It makes sense on that level, if Biden can get it done on the stump. Biden has pretty much demonstrated that his campaigning can be dangerous, so he’ll need to get better at not saying dumb things. But if he helps deliver those rural White votes that Obama can’t seem to attract, he might be the best option available.
One last thing. Biden is 65, I think, so it takes away the Obama camp’s ability to play the “age card” to an extent.
[QUOTE=stolichnaya]
I know, it’s gotta be killing you, Sam. Obama making mistake after mistake like this.
I think this will work just fine. I was softening toward Clinton and would have been OK with that pick, but Bill’s attitude was basically proof that it wasn’t happening.
There is always the possibility for a huge head-fake, but I really like Biden- he was probably second to Clark in my list, and I am surprisingly OK with it. He was a tough sell as a presidential candidate, but I really like the idea of him as lead attack-dog/jokester/baby-kisser. It fits.
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You know, I don’t have much of a dog in this hunt. Of course I constantly wind up taking the McCain side on this board, but when talking to my conservative friends I’m just as likely to praise Obama. Frankly, I have my doubts about both candidates. So I’m trying to stay as objective as I can in this election and call it as I see it. If you don’t believe me, check out a very strident anti-McCain post I made a while back in the pit.
If I were praying for Obama to lose, I’d be ecstatic about the Biden pick. I just don’t think it’s a good pick in a strategic sense. Maybe I’ll be proved wrong, and I reserve the right to change my opinion as we see Biden and Obama working together. Maybe there’s some chemistry there from the their shared time in the Senate that will make them the proverbial dynamic duo.
It’s just that on paper, this doesn’t make a lot of sense. And Biden is a big risk. He’s got a history of exaggerated claims and he has a habit of firing from the hip and sometimes putting his foot in it. Just this year, he damaged his own run for President by saying about Obama, “you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
Sure, he didn’t mean for it to sound racist. But it did, because he didn’t choose his words very carefully. That’s a big risk when there’s the kind of scrutiny on you that a VP campaign brings.
Does Biden bring any states into play for Obama? Maybe the electoral map explains the pick.
Obama could have picked worse. At least Biden is a relative centrist and a serious guy. Obama could have picked someone from the left or some loony pick like Bloomberg.
This could open the door to McCain picking some ex-business type like Romney, and then running a campaign against 'two guys from Washington - the place where government has a 19% approval rating. Inside the beltway liberals, with no real-world experience, who want to raise your taxes and who have no understanding of average Americans and what they want and need." That’s always been a powerful message for Republicans. If you can paint the other guy as an out of touch liberal, he’s toast. Clinton won because he managed to present himself as a centrist, and as someone from outside the beltway who knew how to get things done.
At least the Dems wouldn’t lose his Senate seat. The Governor of Delaware is a Democrat, and would appoint a Democrat to sit for the rest of his term. Then I’m sure another Democrat would be elected.
I think this will force McCain to have to choose Romney. Biden would clean Pawlenty’s clock in the VP debate.
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
For one thing, Biden’s one of the best foreign policy guys in Congress. He’s actually better than McCain on that stuff.
I’m also inclined to take Obama at his word when he describes the qualities he was looking for. Biden could certainly step in and take over as President (and that’s something the candidates always have to put aside strategic factors and really think about), he would be very solid as an adviser and he’s somebody who would absolutely have no problem telling Barack he was wrong if he had to. Biden is going to be his own guy. I think Baye or Kaine would have been more inclined to become Obama’s bitches. I don’t think he likes yes men.
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I’ll give him his foreign policy props. I’ve always thought that Biden was a straight shooter and someone with a good deal of sense when it comes to foreign policy. I even agree that he might be better than McCain in that. McCain is good when the situation fits his strengths, but I think he’s a little too one-note. There are times when even the strongest hawks have to tone it down and learn to cooperate. Reagan knew how to do that. Bush doesn’t, or didn’t until recently. I’m not sure McCain does. He was too forceful with the Iraqis over the withdrawal thing. He’s gone maybe a touch too far in his rhetoric against Russia - regardless of what happens in Georgia, the U.S. still needs to be able to deal with Russia.
So yeah, Biden’s okay on that front. And maybe this is a sign that Obama is taking the foreign policy problems facing the U.S. very seriously, and simply tried to get the best guy for that he could find (although I think Sam Nunn would have been better, but maybe he didn’t want the job). If so, props to him for taking a risk because he thinks it’s important. But it is a risk. Biden has failed the vetting process before already. Twice.
I am saying right here- I will purchase the DVD of the Biden/Romney debate.