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Joe Biden
Great stuff from Plutonium Page @kos. VP debate Wordle.
Joe Biden:
Sarah Palin:
Discuss
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Joe Biden did more for the equality of the sexes with his honest display of paternal emotion during the vice presidential debate than Sarah Palin’s presence on the executive ticket has or will ever do.
Because as we all know, only women are emotional.
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Watch the lines work their way up then plumment when Palin begins to speak. This was certainly a “moment”. Guy almost chokes up and Palin ignores it in order to get out some “maverick” talking point.
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I don’t even need to watch the rest of it. That’s my verdict. Biden looked almost Presidential while Palin sounded like she was trying out for a role in Fargo.
Best line of the night was Biden’s “ultimate bridge to nowhere”.
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Lots of commentary out there. Obviously our rightwing friends are very happy as Palin appears to be a certified wingnut: Columbuser, WMD (yikes! another horrid new design), Bizzy, Naugle is silent (but sure to be on board soon), Anonymous Wingnut Blogger Taxman (thinks she’s MORE experienced than either of the Dems – hah!), Thurber seems to like it and uses the “executive” argument, AOL Nixguy Dave Staley thinks it’s “brilliant” (while being underwhelmed by the Obama speech – hehe), and Ben Keeler likes it (thought I think he just lost a bet).
Reaction from the left:
Plunderbund – Joe says this takes experience right off the table
Glass City Jungle – Claims to not even be a “progressive blog” though BNN thinks so. No clue on Lisa Renee’s stance here. She seems to like Palin in a way and is trying to be neutral in another. She will only tell us she “votes her conscience”. Good to know, but far from taking a stance.
Jill at WLST – McCain camp making HUGE miscalculation.
Tim at BloggerInterrupted – thinks it’s insulting to women for McCain to have picked such a polar opposite to Hillary.
BSB – Is probably traveling. No comment yet. Yup, traveling. Nick now asks “Sarah who?”
Dave at ProgressOhio – not impressed.
De Magno Opere – Brilliant…for a day or two.
Ohio Daily Blog – Canvasses righty blogs and finds plenty of negative reactions
The Chief Source’s Robert – Calls Palin a “Trophy Candidate”
Pho and Psychobilly Democrat haven’t chimed in yet. Look forward to hearing what they have to say.
Here’s what I think and also what I think needs to happen on our side to make this a pretty clear cut election this time around:
First, and most obviously, the experience argument has now effectively been flipped by the McCain camp. By picking a candidate with arguably LESS experience in leadership than Obama (despite the type), the Republicans cannot make this claim about the Democratic Candidate. The Obama campaign, however, CAN make this claim about the VP spot since their man Biden is clearly more experienced and able to step in as Commander in Chief.
Second, I agree with Jill here that this is a pandering decision that will backfire. This is not a governance calculation, it is completely political. 100%. I think the Biden pick is somewhat political, but also has governance angles. McCain and company did look to shake things up and go outside the box. While it will motivate some hard core wingnuts and will get some news initially, the overall affect of weakening the ticket will become glaring in the weeks ahead. My prediction is that once Palin is out of the honeymoon period, she will become a gaffe machine once the pressure cooker heats up. You only need look at Biden’s recent speeches and Obama’s last night to understand that heat is coming.
Third, I think this is a good thing when it comes to Hillary. One of my biggest worries is that she would make an acceptable speech, hop in a private jet to New York and never be heard from again. This pick almost certainly guarantees that won’t happen. For her to sit on her hands in hopes of a 2012 run while she allows a woman as opposed to her core beliefs as Palin is allowed to help McCain capture the White House will be simply too obvious and unpalatable. Hillary’s silence from now until November would be deafening and could cost her future political aspirations and harm the overall Clinton legacy among Democrats.
There are other specific problems with Palin and the entirety of them makes clear how desperate the Republicans are this year to try and do anything to compete. In a way, this pick enhances my argument that modern day conservatism is dead. If this is all the deeper their bench is, they are surely in a steep decline.
So here is what I think needs to happen:
1. Obama needs to follow up one of the best political speeches I’ve seen in my lifetime (wingnuts talking it down are blinded by partisanship) with continued attacks on the Bush/McCain era and follow up on his themes of why the parties are starkly different and make the case for change.
2. Biden needs to hammer McCain with everything he has. Bring full guns a blazin’. He’s good at it and it’s one of the central reasons for picking him. Watching all the other contender’s speeches contrasted with his makes this abundantly clear.
3. Hillary needs to be very visible and hammer away at Palin like there’s no tomorrow.
These three things happen and the 8 point convention bump widens to something insurmountable come election day. The other thing that needs to happen is those of us who are on the side of Obama/Biden need to get to work. Host a house party. Talk to neighbors. Canvas. Phone bank. Donate. Do whatever you can to ensure success on November 4th. Change doesn’t happen through wishful thinking, but through willful action.
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This was by far the best night of the convention. I was of the mindset that it was going along too slowly and overall was weak, but the more I think about it the more I realize every day built upon the other. Every speaker played a part to build toward history.
Day 1 we saw Ted Kennedy make one of the most courageous speeches in modern politics. For him to even make it out to Denver was an accomplishment. To then eschew a stool in his quest to pass the torch to a new generation of Democratic leaders was something I’ll never forget. Brave. Strong. Memorable.
Michelle Obama continued with a rousing speech that laid the foundation for who Barack Obama is and why he should be our President. I thought she came across genuine, humble, and confident. The addition of her girls and Obama on the big screen was a cute and candid family moment that is the type of thing that could endear voters to them as a family and put them at ease with Obama as a candidate.
Day 2 Hillary gave a speech that both vindicated her supporters, let her have the spotlight and respect she deserves, while also getting fully behind electing Barack Obama. I personally felt she could have done more to neutralize some of the attacks from the right regarding readiness, but overall she did well and sewed the seeds of unity. Time will tell if there is follow through in campaigning and support in these weeks leading to November.
Tonight (Day 3), Hillary continued her vote of confidence by coming down to the convention floor and leading the motion to nominate Obama as the nominee. I thought that was a great gesture and inspiring move.
The highlight of day 3 and the best speech by far was President Bill Clinton. Despite widely reported sour grapes over Obama’s win, Bubba delivered a speech he had to give. A speech we needed to hear. He was absolutely on fire. Though Hillary left off the readiness comments, Bill hammered them home. There simply is nobody in Bill’s league when it comes to delivering political rhetoric. The only person close – and possibly better – is running for President this year.
I thought John Kerry had a surprisingly good effort and Joe Biden was outstanding. His delivery, other than a few stumbles, was very effective. I thought his use of volume changes was a very effective tool. Joe Biden’s story about his mom telling him to bloody the bully’s nose so he could walk back down the street the next day was a foreshadow of days to come and his treatment of John McCain.
So far we are teed up perfectly for an historic speech tomorrow night as Barack Obama, a black man, accepts the nomination to be the Democratic candidate for President of the United States. I can’t wait to hear it and see it. When you realize the history we are making here, it makes you think differently about it. Our grandkids will read about this some day and we’ll tell them we were there.
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12:43am. CNN confirms from two Democratic sources that Joe Biden was offered the #2 spot by Barack Obama. No text message.
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Getting close. Expected by Wednesday. You can be the first to know (I’m getting a text message, are you?). The NYT is reporting it is now down to 3: Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware.
Now would be a good time to get your picks in the poll to the right.
I don’t think it will be Bayh due to the issue of the Iraq War, which has been and will continue to be central to the campaign. Biden would be a great pick as would Kaine. My gut tells me Kaine, but it also told me it’d be announced pre-Olympics. 
What do you think?
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