What's been bothering me about Biden

[WA98296]

If Obama selects another Senator, one he is completely junior to, one who has a spent a 35 year career in the Senate, that seems to illustrate more vividly Obama’s perceived weakness: inexperience and youth.

I don’t think Biden’s distinguished resume is going to do much to assure “Joe Public”. Obama-Biden appears like a junior senator bringing on a senior senator to help him along.

[Benhurst]

1. Why is that so much more of an issue with Biden than it is with

Clark or others being considered?

[truebrit71]

4. How long has Clark spent in the Senate doing MBNA's bidding?

Not a single day.

Might be less of an issue for him then wouldn't you say?

Clark is an outsider that brings military creds in cartloads to the ticket, international diplomacy skills coming out of his ears, and sharp as a tack...

Obama/Clark 08 would be the legitimate "Change" ticket...

[Benhurst]

9. I don't disagree with you about a "Change" ticket. But the original

post stated that selecting Biden would play into "... Obama’s perceived weakness: inexperience and youth."

Clark's resume, although very different, is every bit as impressive as Biden's and would also play into a perceived weakness on Obama's part of inexperience and youth, if that is a problem. It didn't seem to be one with our primary voters, though, since all the other candidates were older and had more impressive resumes.

[WA98296]

5. I don't think we really know with certainty WHO is being considered, however

I was thinking about Biden after yesterdays' KO show. Actually I was feeling okay about it, given that I would be heartsick if Bayh is selected, until I thought about it a bit longer. I can't shake the feeling that two Senators just seem like business as usual, especially the junior senator bringing along a very senior senator.

As far as Clark, I don't see that selection in the same way. He is not a career politician and he has a resume that Joe Public could understand and respect. To me, he looks like a strong partner.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

18. Because Mr. MBNA is a corporate shill and that would negate Obama's pledge

to work for the people and not the corporations. Wes Clark, on the other hand, has not been in Washington for decades. He is not beholden to special interests because he doesn't hold a political office. What he does have is foreign policy credentials that are unmatched. And he does have special characteristics that would help Obama in the South and with lower-class voters and Independents who tend to believe that Iraq is the #1 issue. Speaking of which, Clark has *always* been against the war and Biden hasn't. Biden, in my view, is much more suited as the Secretary of State. I have always held this view and I will continue to stand by it. He brings so much more to the table that way because he has been a great negotiator and understands foreign policy, though he botched Iraq, I think he can redeemed himself.

[LynneSin]

2. Well since Bush pretty much did the same thing with Cheney

Why would this matter?

[TexasObserver]

3. Well, the alternative is insane - getting someone junior to him

[WA98296]

6. Well, how about someone who is NOT a Senator?

[TexasObserver]

8. the only one I care for is Richardson

No to Kaine. No to Generals. No to K.S.

[stray cat]

7. I would feel better having someone with more experience on the ticket

and I support Obama completely. I suspect the average independent would as well. I hate to say it but Cheney on the ticket gave Bush enough credibility to become president.

[Inuca]

10. It's going to be someone with

MORE experience or with LESS experience. The risks of going with LESS are IMHO much higher than in going with MORE. There is also the rather subjective AVERAGE experience, but that can have the disadvantages of both. IF indeed the final short list is Bayh, Biden, Kaine, I think that Biden is by far the best choice.

[Avalux]

11. That's an excellent point. I don't think Obama will pick a Senator.

I'm firmly holding with Clark at this point. He is the best choice.

[WA98296]

12. That's where I am. Clark, best bet.

[gateley]

13. The plus of someone with more experience on the ticket (Biden or someone else)

is that the "experience" argument is rendered useless.

Also, I think that the situation in Georgia/Russia may have turned the spotlight back to Biden (at least among the pundits - who knows about Obama?). Since McCain is PERCEIVED to be a heavy in FP, it would do our ticket good to have someone even more experienced.

Clark, Richardson, Biden - I'm thinking these guys in light of the Russia thing.

[Tom Rinaldo]

14. Clark makes the most sense

I don't know if negative rumors about Richardson's personal life are true but in the wake of Edwards he would have to pass vetting on that score. Clark or Biden. McCain has gone very negative with his campaign so Obama chosing Clark after the fake controversy about Clark dissing McCain would not be a problem. Clark always has and always will praise the military service of veterans. But he will stand his ground against attacks.

[gateley]

15. Clark would be fine with me. I'll trust Obama to choose the right guy. nt

[KittyWampus]

16. kind of freaky seeing the same anti-Biden crap resurface after the primaries are over

maybe I should go back through Archives and repost some of our threads debunking stuff

[Tom Rinaldo]

19. Sure. Or at least keep them close at hand.

Biden would be a good choice all things considered.

[gateley]

20. Save yourself the effort.

When people have such strong opinions, it's difficult for them to see other viewpoints.

I'm confident, even if some Dems won't vote for an Obama/Biden ticket, the independents and even moderate Repubs the ticket would attract will more than make up for their desertion.

[jillan]

23. More freaky is seeing again certain posters that stopped posting here after Biden dropped out.

Now they're back.

[gateley]

24. If only they were FOR somebody as strongly as they're AGAINST Biden.

I don't see how being anti-anyone accomplishes anything. :shrug:

[Tom Rinaldo]

17. Agreed. It's Obama's call to make. n/t

[Stop Cornyn]

21. Top Ten Reasons Why Biden Would Be a Poor Running Mate

10. A man who has spent over 3 decades inside the Washington D.C. beltway is an avatar of the status quo and would act like antimatter destroying the hope of real change.

9. Biden's vote for the 2005 Bankruptcy Bill -- and especially Biden's votes against many of the Democratic sponsored amendments to ameliorate the worst effects of the bill on the middle class -- will prove to be bigger mistakes than the vote for the Iraq invasion because the elimination of middle-class bankruptcy protections and the votes to grant unprecedented benefits to the credit card companies at a time when they were reaping record windfall profits will play badly among voters hard-hit by the economy in November.

8. If the election were in September, selecting a VP candidate who would appear to be suited to bring gravitas to address Russia's incursion into Georgia might make sense, but in November no one will remember the mid-summer events in Georgia, and -- instead -- the key issues in November will be heating oil prices, the mortgage crisis, and the overall weakness of the economy.

7. With respect to the issue which will be critical in November (preventing a downturn in the economy from crushing regular Americans who didn't inherit Paris Hilton/Cindy McCain fortunes), Biden's history of siding with credit card companies against the American middle class with be ballot-box poison.

6. Picking a running-mate based on a long resume rich with foreign policy experience will frame to debate in terms most favorable to McCain, who would love the election to be about who has a longer resume and who has more foreign policy experience, and if Obama truly believes his own often repeated rhetoric that "judgment is more important than experience" (and I believe he does) Obama would not want to undermine that message by picking a running-mate based on experience rather than judgment.

5. Obama's efforts to distance his campaign from lobbyists would look hypocritical if he were to then choose Biden as the VP candidate because Biden accepted the highest percentage of campaign funding from lobbyists among all the Democratic candidates this year.

4. Biden is a long-winded gaffe machine.

3. Obama already has a comfortable lead in Delaware, which is a "slave state" as you were reminded in the primary campaign, and Biden would not bring any electoral votes into the tent.

2. Obama already has a substantial lead among the voter demographic of Indian Americans who apparently monopolize the "7-11" and "Duncan Donut" franchises, and he does not need Biden's help with that constituency.

1. Obama already has a substantial lead among the "clean and articulate" African American voter demographic, and he does not need Biden's help with that constituency.

[I Have A Dream]

22. It didn't seem to bother the American public that Bush had...

Cheney as his VP. In fact, I think that many people were more comfortable with Bush because of it. :puke:

However, there do seem to be different standards for Republicans and Democrats since everything is affected by the way the media plays the fact.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

25. Reducto ad absurdum: Obama should pick a homely child as VP

Obama may pick a VP with whom he doesn't need to share the spotlight (Kaine, Sibelius, etc.) but it would be a show of insecurity to do so.

He needs the best candidate for the campaign.