ATIT Reheated from six years ago: Barack, pick Smilin' Joe!

By Jack Brummet with National Affairs Ed. Pablo Fanque



While the campaign and Barack himself have been very circumspect about his choice for running mate, they have floated at least the following names:

• Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
• Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius
• Indiana Senator Evan Bayh (an olive branch to Hillary supporters)
• Senator Joe Biden (our favorite)
• Georgia Ex-Senator Sam Nunn

Pick Smilin' Joe, Barack! He's got the foreign policy experience you need, and he's great on the campaign trail. He never gets tired of talking!

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Hillary Clinton 2016, or, why Joe Biden is so effed

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor

There is no question in my mind anymore that Hillary Clinton is running for President.  She's running, which doesn't necessarily mean she will remain running.  But for the moment, she's in.  She is making the rounds of all the appropriate conclaves, has worked to solidify her position with the black community after majorly offending many of them (in particular some of the things Bill Clinton said on the campaign trail caused a lot of hurt), and is checking in with all her old friends and supporters.  The strategy seems to be working.

As much as she and BHO tilted during the 2008 campaign, she was a loyal and hard working Secretary of State, and they seemed to have emerged from it all with at least a deep mutual respect.  So much so that President Obama has done literally nothing to help grease the skids in case Joe Biden decides to throw his hat in the ring.  In fact, in 2012, the White House took their sweet time to deny persistent rumors that BHO would dump Joe Biden and replace him on the ticket with HRC.  A President would normally give a serious boost to their VPOTUS at this point in the game.  But BHO is sitting on his hands.  And Smilin' Joe is understandably frustrated.  But, judging from his visits to various Democratic rallies and numerous visits to the early caucus state, Iowa, he too is running for President.  For now. 

In numerous appearances in the last year, former SoS/Senator/First Lady Clinton has differentiated herself from VP Biden, often by reiterating her support for the raid that captured and killed Osama bin Laden (which the Veep strongly opposed).    

In a September appearance in Iowa, Vice President Biden said that John Kerry, Clinton’s successor as secretary of State, was “one of the best secretaries of State in the nation’s history." Clinton was not even mentioned.

Joe Trippi, the veteran Democratic operative who ran Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in 2004, told Real Clear Politics that he did not believe Biden would take on Clinton but that it was possible that something unforeseeable might make her decide not to run (or leave her seriously weakened or wounded).

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A colloquy in the executive branch

Thanks to regular tipster JC for this one. . .

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Joe Biden: "Give me a f*&$#ing break!" - another VP Biden hot mic moment

At an event at the other Washington's Union Station today, where Vice President Joe Biden was heralding the $1.3 billion investment (boy doesn't that seem like a pitiful amount after the bailout numbers?) to rebuild the train system, a microphone picked up a Senator addressing Joe, as "Mr. Vice President," to which he gave his now standard reply: "Gimme a f*&$#ing break." Crazy Joe didn't know there was a hot mic'.
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Republican convention was most-watched convention on television--ever

Closing night of the GOP convention - click to enlarge


By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor



Party unity, a TV ratings bonanza, an "energized base," and the Democrats on the run have resurrected what might have been a moribund convention. A few months ago, John McCain almost dropped out of the race, and the party was in shambles. The Republicans leave Minnesota with a new lease on life and the stunned Democratic Party once again playing catch-up.


According to Rasmussen Reports polls, the choice of Sarah Palin as VP candidate is only slightly more popular that Obama's choice of Joe Biden. However, the buzz seems to belie that, when coming off the convention Obama/Biden seem--for the moment--to be little more than a footnote, and an irritating presence to disposed of later in the fall.


The Rasmussen Reports now say that Palin’s favorable ratings are .a point higher than either man at the top of the ticket. As of Friday morning, Obama and McCain are each viewed favorably by 57% of voters. Biden is viewed favorably by 48%.


Senator Obama, however, vowed yesterday to fight back: "We're not going to be bullied, we're not going to be smeared, we're not going to be lied about," Obama said. "I don't believe in coming in second."


Unlike McCain, Obama is still madly fundraising. Last night, Obama attended a $2,300-per-person party at the .home of party fundraiser Phil Murphy. About 200 people, including the Bon Jovis and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, attended.


Republican nominee John McCain can raise no more campaign money because he accepted about $84 million in public funding and the restrictions that go with it. Obama turned down the public funding (and broke an earlier pledge to the voters), in hopes he can raise and spend more on his own.


This next eight weeks promise some excellent political theatre.
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More on Joe Biden & four choice Joe Biden video clips

Despite what the Republicans may tell you about Smilin' Joe, this is a great pick by Obama, and it has to have them running scared. I can't tell you how happy I am that he is running, albeit just a little sad that he isn't at the top of the ticket. Joe is extremely bright, funny, articulate (yeah, and a little long-winded), has been great on the Judiciary Committee as well as the Foreign Relations committee, and is skilled politically, while still being able to get things accomplished. Joe Biden is a brawler in the best sense of the word. He knows how to play hardball. He brings depth, experience, knowledge, and humor to the ticket, and it will be a pleasure to see him debate, and act as the designated attack dog. Run Joe Run!

The Republicans will remind you that he plagiarized a couple of lines from Neil Kinnock speeches in the 80's. Yeah, he did. Once. The other times he used the lines in speeches, he attributed Kinnock. He didn't once, and it cost him his run for the Presidency. (You don't believe me?...here is the Wikipedia note on it: Then in September 1987, the campaign ran into serious trouble when he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party.[26] Though Biden had correctly credited the original author in all speeches but one, the one where he failed to make mention of the originator was caught on video; the New York Times reported "Senator Biden began his remarks by saying the ideas had come to him spontaneously on the way to the debate."]

Most people don't know it--but they will soon--that Joe is not the Washington insider you might have heard. Well, he is and he isn't. He has commuted to D.C. an hour a half each way since 1973! He was elected at the age of 29 and became the fifth youngest Senator ever. He was elected in November, but before he even took office, his wife and daughter were killed, and his two sons were seriously injured (but later recovered) in a car accident.



He was talked out of resigning office, and ended up taking the oath of office at his sons' bedsides in the hospital. And to stay close to his family in their own home, he began his lifelong habit of commuting. I suspect he will move to the Naval Observatory (the traditional VP residence) once they air the place out and get rid of the Cheney vampire stench. Finally, I think you'll find that Joe Biden only owns one house.




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The long-awaited VP text message from Senator Obama

They didn't quite keep the the news of Obama's VP selection bottled up until the very end. The story had to spread beyond the tight inner cir4cle of the campaign, and by late Friday night, the story was being confirmed by various parties and news sources. Therefore, we got the text message at 1:56 AM...

From: Barack Obama [mailto:info@barackobama.com]
Sent: Sat 8/23/2008 1:56 AM
To: Jack Brummet
Subject: The Next Vice President

jack --

I have some important news that I want to make official.

I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate.

Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois -- the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago.

I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change.

Please let Joe know that you're glad he's part of our team. Share your personal welcome note and we'll make sure he gets it:

http://my.barackobama.com/welcomejoe

Thanks for your support,

Barack

P.S. -- Make sure to turn on your TV at 2:00 p.m. Central Time to join us or watch online at http://www.BarackObama.com.

Paid for by Obama for America
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It's Joe! Obama picks Biden for VP slot as John McCain runs marbles through his hands like Captain Queeg

As All This Is That revealed early this week, in an article by our National Affairs Editor Pablo Fanque, Barack Obama has selected his fellow senator, Smilin' Joe Biden as his running mate.

The Associated Press broke the story Friday evening. The selection of Biden will be public unveiled tomorrow morning as Biden joins Obama at a rally in Illinois. Those of us who signed up with the Obama campaign will receive a text message announcing his choice early tomorrow morning. [ed's note: we received the text message from the Obama campaign this morning at 1:56 AM Pacific Time...just after the story was being confirmed by MSNBC and other news services. ]

All This Is That was right. Hats off to Pablo Fanque for his always excellent reporting!

The Associated Press story that ran Friday night said:

"Barack Obama selected Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware late Friday night to be his vice presidential running mate, according to a Democratic official, balancing his ticket with an older congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defense issues."
"Biden, 65, has twice sought the White House, and is a Catholic with blue-collar roots, a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator."

"Across more than 30 years in the Senate, he has served at various times not only as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee but also as head of the Judiciary Committee, with its jurisdiction over anti-crime legislation, Supreme Court nominees and Constitutional issues. "

"In selecting Biden, Obama passed over several other potential running mates, none more prominent than former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, his tenacious rival in dozens of primaries and caucuses. "

"The official who spoke did so on condition of anonymity, preferring not to pre-empt a text-message announcement the Obama campaign promised for Saturday morning. "
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Obama settles on Joe Biden for his Vice-President

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

Senator Barack Obama is ready to announce a running mate, according to an article by Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny in the New York Times/International Herald Tribune.

Barack Obama has settled on his choice for a running mate and set the stage for a multi-pronged, multimedia rollout that begins with a crack of dawn alert to supporterss via a wide-spread text message to be transmitted to cell phones and Blackberries around the country.



The article said "Aides said perhaps a half-dozen advisers were involved in the final discussions in an effort to enforce a command that Obama issued to staff members: that his decision not leak out until supporters are notified."

The Senator has focused in recent days on two Senators and a Governor: Senator Evan Bayh (IN), Governor Tim Kaine (VA) and Senator Joseph Biden Jr. (DE). Falling off the list were Hillary Clinton (on the list because "She'd be on anyone's short list"), Governor Bill Richardson (I how Richardson ended up in the doghouse? and Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who has been a very strong contender, but in the end her selection would only have riled up the pro-Hillary faction of the party, in addition to being virtually unknown in the rest of the country (not unlike Governor Kaine).

The Obama machine may be virtually leak-proof, but I hold in my hands an email sent to us through a circuit of anonymous internet remailers. The email was originally sent from an Apple Macintosh at a Kinkos in McLean, Virginia and includes just enough detail to leave no doubt about its veracity. The email informs us that Barack Obama has selected fellow congressman, Senator Joe Biden as his running mate.

And if you doubt our veracity, you'll just have to wait until Wednesday morning, when Barack Obama unveils his choice. For our part, it's a great choice. It will be most interesting to watch Obama attempt to keep the ebullient, gregarious and oh-so-talkative Joe Biden in check. With Obama increasingly under fire from the Republicans on defense matters, and not making any headway in the national polls, he had no choice but to select Biden. Biden presided over two of the most fractious Supreme Court nominations ever (Clarence Thomas, and the Robert Bork fiasco), in addition to being a prominent, active, and thoughtful member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

We know Senator Biden will accept the post. He said so in a June 22, 2008 interview on NBC's Meet the Press.
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Obama's VP-stakes--> Come on Barack! Go with Smilin' Joe

While the campaign and Barack himself have been very circumspect about his choice for running mate, they have floated at least the following names:

• Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
• Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius
• Indiana Senator Evan Bayh (an olive branch to Hillary supporters)
• Senator Joe Biden (my personal favorite)
• Georgia Ex-Senator Sam Nunn

Pick Smilin' Joe, Barack! He's got the foreign policy experience you need, and he's great on the campaign trail. He never gets tired of talking!
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Huckabee & Obama take the Iowa contest

click the winners to enlarge

Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama took the Republican and Democratic caucus votes in Iowa on Wednesday, and in the Democratic race, left Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd on the sidelines, as they dropped out of the race. Mitt Romney is sweating. Hillary Clinton "the electable one" is really sweating. John Edwards feels OK. He survived another day. Rudy? McCain? Richardson? The rest of the pack? Hanging on by their fingernails, or mired in the back where they've always been...

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Political hero Joe Biden throws in the towel; hold your nose and stand behind Edwards or Obama

click to enlarge Senator Joe Biden

Senator Joe Biden was right. A campaign video:



Sadly, but unfortunately wisely, Senator Biden announced following the Iowa caucuses that he was abandoning his run for the Presidency. I had always hoped that Senators Edwards, Clinton, and Obama would decimate each other and that the populace would race to embrace Smilin' Joe in the breach. It became clear last night that was not going to happen, and the Senator decided to shut down his shoestring operation.

Senator Biden went his own way this time around, and often during the debates, the other candidates would admit "Joe is right," or "Joe Biden said it best," or "As Joe pointed out." The Senator brought great ideas and candor to the race, and he would have brought those same ideas and values to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Fortunately, we still have Joe to kick around. He is, after all, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (one of the most important committees in Congress).

Joe Biden's concession/withdrawal speech from YouTube:



Like Mario Cuomo of years past, this was a guy I really wanted to be my President. Kerry, Dukakis, Mondale, Carter, I held my nose and mailed in the check or doorbelled for. . .I could get behind Joe. But that was not to be.
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The closer we get, the more spooked I become: The Democratic race for President could be over in a few weeks and we failed to nominate Joe Biden

The closer this contest comes to resolution—and it may be coming very soon— the more I regret that Sen. Joe Biden has not surged ahead. I wish we'd all realized sooner that he is the President we actually want. What a decent, thinking, sensitive, and funny man Joe Biden is and has been throughout his long career in Washington! He's almost always on the right side, he knows how to play hardball, and it's impossible not to like the guy. And he is up against congressional lightweights like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards—whose total congressional experience added up together doesn't even equal half of Biden's time. But, as correspondent Kev said, we know he doesn't have much of a chance...barring some tragedy or, say, a love child fostered between Hillary and Barack, Biden is pretty much dead in the water, with occasionally, hopeful, polling blips.

Unless things change dramatically, I will march off to my local caucus with the race decided. There will be pressure to go with the winner, but I'll vote for Biden and hope to convince enough other delegates to at least get one delegate from this state on his side.

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John Edwards takes a final swipe at Sen. Barack Obama, who he says may be living in never-never land

click to enlarge

Yesterday morning at a forum for undecided voters in Independence, Iowa—and there must be plenty of undecideds, the way the polls swing back and forth—Ex-Senator John Edwards repeated his criticism of Barack Obama, saying that any candidate who thinks he or she can invite corporate America to the table and achieve real results for Americans "is living in never-never land."

In a wide-ranging interview with ABC News Friday afternoon, the former North Carolina senator labeled as "ridiculous" the comments made by the Obama campaign linking Ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination to Sen. Hillary Clinton's vote to authorize the use of force against Iraq. On the other hand, he did embrace Sen. Barack Obama's politics over Clinton's, and said that an anti-Obama flier from a pro-Clinton union was "misleading" and "deceptive."

I like Obama, but I like him best for Vice-President paired with (in descending order) Joe Biden, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, or Bill Richardson. On the other hand, he's not a bad senator, missing plenty of votes this election season notwithstanding...
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Joe Biden for President

click The Senator to enlarge

I don't talk or write much about Joe Biden for President, because, regrettably, he can't win. But if we chose who might actually make the best President--like a Bill Clinton with a stronger moral compass--Senator Biden would win hands down. Even his fellow candidates (opponents is not the right word...aren't we looking for the best and brightest as opposed to the most marketable?) seem to agree:


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Tough Talking Joe Biden!

click to enlarge

According to the New York Times, Joe Biden unloaded on the President yesterday. Now, if Cindy Sheehan had said it, I wouldn't like it. But Smilin' Joe. . .bring it on!

In Des Moines, Iowa at a campaign event, Senator Biden had some choice words for President Bush.

“This guy is brain dead,” Mr. Biden said to surprised applause and laughter from the crowd. “I know I’ll be quoted, I’ll be killed for that.”

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