Biden, average Joe, works well for the blue collar vote

[bushisanidiot]

"Average Joe

It's a strange thing to say about a guy who has spent 36 years in the Senate but Biden genuinely has appeal to the blue-collar, working class voters that Obama struggled to attract during the Democratic primaries.

Maybe it's Biden roots in hard-scrabble Scranton, Pennsylvania. (Hello, Michael Scott!) Maybe it's the fact that Biden takes Amtrak home to Delaware every night and knows the name of all the conductors and ticket agents on the route. Maybe it's the fact that his personal story -- his wife and daughter were killed a month after he was elected to the Senate in 1972 -- resonates with people who have suffered similar losses.

Regardless of what it is, there's little question that, in the words of one Biden advocate, he passed the "have a beer" test. That is, Biden is the kind of guy most voters can imagine themselves having a beer (or, heck, a boilermaker) with -- a crucial hurdle when it comes to electing a president. (George W. Bush, widely dismissed by elites, was elected to two terms due in no small part because he was perceived as far more of a regular guy than either Al Gore or John Kerry.)

Biden's ability to connect with blue collar voters would almost certainly help Obama in Pennsylvania (aside from Biden's roots in Scranton, he has been a regular figure on Philadelphia television during his campaigns) as well as potentially in Ohio and Michigan as well.

It's also worth noting that Biden is a strong Catholic. Obama lost white Catholics badly to Hillary Rodham Clinton during the primary season and, as Post pollster Jon Cohen notes, white Catholics have emerged as one of the bellwether groups in recent elections; the candidate who wins white Catholics has won the presidency in every election since 1972."

[senseandsensibility]

1. For us west coasters

How long a commute is it from DC to Delaware?

[VADem11]

5. About 80 minutes

by train and about two hours to drive.

[senseandsensibility]

9. Is that because of traffic?

Not that either the train or driving sounds fun.

[VADem11]

11. There is horrendous traffic

On a good day it takes 2 hours, on a bad day it can take 3-4. The Delaware Turnpike gets backed up badly very often plus there is horrendous traffic everywhere around DC, especially on the Beltway.

[MiniMe]

7. It's about a 2-2.5 hour drive

[senseandsensibility]

10. In rush hour traffic?

No wonder he takes the train.

[blondeatlast]

2. Very much so. I just posted his pro-labor record from "On the Issues" here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6715933

I like the direction Obama went with the choice of Biden. Labor needs strong support and Biden can do it.

[bushisanidiot]

12. Thanks for the info!!

:)

[Elidor]

3. The guy who voted for the Bankruptcy bill is a regular Joe? Really?

What unmitigated bullshit. Riding a train to work doesn't make him "a regular guy." He takes money from the credit card companies and votes the way they want him to. His labor record can't wash that stink away.

[ikojo]

4. Isn't he Mr Mastercard, doing

their bidding?

[Kat45]

14. No, he does not take money from the credit card companies.

First off, he never meets with lobbyists. Second, if he took that money, he wouldn't have the second lowest net worth in the Senate. But most importantly--and the reason he is the one person to whom I can give a pass for that vote--is that he's the Senator from Delaware, you know, the state where all the credit card companies are located. They are his constituency. He was voting for his constituency, as a Senator should do.

[WA98296]

6. That "average Joe" shit is not going to fly with the public.

[bushisanidiot]

8. The "average joe" doesn't own 10 homes. McCondo's lifestyle won't fly with the public.

.

[Arkana]

15. When you're one of only two Senators with negative net worth,

the argument gains some credibility.

[FrenchieCat]

13. Love it!

Did you write that, or is that a piece of a story? If you wrote it, kudos....