# Would you vote for Biden? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 28, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548 "2008-08-28T14:01:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/21 "2008-08-28T19:26:28Z")
[QUOTE=Oy!] Well, would you vote for him if Obama were assassinated and McCain were running against him? [/QUOTE] Depends on how they ran their campaigns. McCain is running a nasty, negative campaign against Obama, which makes him an unappealing candidate. I think the campaign style tells you something about what the candidate’s administration will be like. McCain and Biden have known each other a long time and, I think, have a lot of respect for each other. If McCain ran a clean campaign, and if it looked like the Dems were going to clean house in the Congressional elections, I’d probably vote for McCain. Otherwise, it might be a hard pick. And if it looked like we were going to be mired in Iraq for a long, long time under a McCain administration, I’d easily vote for Biden. As it is, I’m not sure there would be much of a difference between a Biden and a McCain plan for Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/22 "2008-08-28T19:42:42Z")
Do you think McCain would run a cleaner campaign against Biden than he has run against Obama? I don’t. I think McCain will say or do just about anything at this point to win. This is his last shot, and he knows it. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/23 "2008-08-28T19:52:54Z")
> [@](#): > > would you prefer that I said he was hit by a meteor? He had an allergic reaction to Hillary’s pantsuits? Yeah, actually. Some of us are a little squeamish about the A-word when it comes to Obama. Maybe it’s one too many comparisons to Bobby Kennedy. Maybe it’s knowing that there are actually well-armed, violent people in this country who strongly believe “[no ‘nigger’ should ever live in the White house](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0826082dnc1.html).” Sometimes I think it’s not a rational thing to worry about. The last president to come very close to dying as the result of an assassination attempt was the lovable old white guy Ronald Reagan, who was shot by someone who apparently thought it would impress Jodi Foster. Still, and I know this is a subjective impression, I don’t remember _this much_ speculation about assassination concerning any recent presidential candidate. > [@](#): > > He got his head stuck in a one gallon can of Van Camp’s Pork and Beans and asphyxiated? On the upside, that would go a long way toward countering charges of elitism. On the downside, it would be a moot point. > [@John Mace](#): > > I think the campaign style tells you something about what the candidate’s administration will be like. McCain and Biden have known each other a long time and, I think, have a lot of respect for each other. If McCain ran a clean campaign, and if it looked like the Dems were going to clean house in the Congressional elections, I’d probably vote for McCain. Now I don’t understand that reasoning at all. If you think McCain’s campaign style indicates a serious character flaw, what does it matter if he cleans it up a little for someone he happens to like better? ---
**Author:** ![Jules\_Andre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jules_andre/32/9334_2.png) [@Jules\_Andre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules_Andre)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/24 "2008-08-28T20:06:16Z")
[QUOTE=DSeid] I can see a few ways in which they are different, but “Literally, everything”? Really? [/QUOTE] Not to speak for **Mosier** , but I think you may have missed what he was trying to say. I think he meant that Biden doesn’t inspire him in the way that Obama does. The word “excite” in **Mosier’s** post was probably the key term. In my own opinion, what draws me to Obama are the exact “insubstantial” qualities that Hillary and the republicans have tried to use against Obama. Biden represents, to me, more of the same in Washington, and none of those inspirational qualities. Obama brings to our government something I believe very strongly in, which is transparency. I find him, to this point, to be the most honest politician of my short lifetime. I value that very highly, and Biden does not strike me as particularly honest, nor has he been proven to be in the past. I would probably not vote for Biden. I would definitely not vote for McCain. I would probably not vote for Hillary. I don’t know what I would do, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/25 "2008-08-28T20:18:11Z")
That’s quite remarkable to me. Biden has been more honest than discreet throughout his entire political life. He sure as heck hasn’t made [money](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=481255)! I can’t understand on what you could possibly base the idea that he lacks, of all qualities, honesty or straightforwardness. I could see disagreeing with him on policy, but not that. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/26 "2008-08-28T20:46:02Z")
I haven’t educated myself enough about him to know how to answer the question. An uninformed voter is worse than a non-voter. I’d abstain from that section of the ballot if it were this evening. If it were in two weeks, I would have enough time to catch myself up. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/27 "2008-08-28T20:48:33Z")
[QUOTE=Slypork] I love the depth of your commitment! Damn good thing the Olympics still weren’t on or you’d vote for Ron Paul! 😃 [/QUOTE] Heck, on a good week, I would vote for Rupaul. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/28 "2008-08-28T21:00:40Z")
Against McCain? Sure, naturally. I used to respect McCain, but over the course of the campaign he’s kind of sold his soul to the right and joined in lockstep with the party. But really, I’d be disappointed if Hillary wasn’t offered the nomination, and I say this as an Obama supporter from the beginning. She came pretty close, and I think the party should use that as the determining factor, not the person Obama selected as his VP. Still, though, if Obama was assassinated, I think that the Democrats would win in a massive landslide with a martyr of that scope hovering over the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/29 "2008-08-28T23:47:43Z")
Are you kidding!? Biden was my [first choice!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9119789&postcount=1) ---
**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/30 "2008-08-29T00:45:45Z")
[QUOTE=foolsguinea] Are you kidding!? Biden was my [first choice!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9119789&postcount=1) [/QUOTE] He was my first choice as well. I would have voted for him had he left him name on the Michigan ballot. His support for the favor state status of New Hampshire and Iowa for first primaries dropped him down a peg in my opinion of him, but he still would make a great President, or VP as it turns out. Obama and Clinton were pretty much a wash for me, meaning I didn’t really favor one over the other. Obama probably couldn’t have chosen anyone who would cause me not to vote for him regardless. Having Biden ready to step in if the unthinkable happens makes it even better. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/31 "2008-08-29T01:24:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Still, though, if Obama was assassinated, I think that the Democrats would win in a massive landslide with a martyr of that scope hovering over the whole thing. Sadly, that didn’t happen in 1968. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548/32 "2008-08-29T01:25:33Z")
I’m no fan of Biden, but if I could force down my gorge and vote for Kerry last time, I could vote for Biden, even though McCain really is nowhere near as bad as Bush/Cheney despite the rabid attempts to say McCain would represent Bush’s third term. Biden is uninspiring, but not the twit that Kerry was or the piece of worthless fluff that Edwards is. I want the Dems to have control for a while. I believe Biden would work to address AGW, getting us out of Iraq on a fast timetable and not allow the Supreme court to drift any further to the right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-biden/461548.md?page=1)