Joe Biden for VP ?

[BigBigBear]

Articulate guy, longtime Senator, can swim upstream.

[JI7]

1. no, Kerry will probably go with a southerner

[mrgorth]

3. Yeah

too far north. Otherwise a good choice.

[ludwigb]

2. Not my first pick

He certainly has some things going for him, but he looks kind of creepy. He sounds like he's been a Senator too long. I don't know that much about his politics, but I don't have overly wonderful impressions.

[BigBigBear]

6. LOL !

"He looks kind of creepy"?

Sorry, but....lol....

[ludwigb]

23. I'm afraid this is something Kerry will be thinking about

The public doesn't have much time to get used to the VP. He is another talking head on the TV for 3 months until the election--this is why Edwards, Clark, and other telegenic types have such a big advantage.

[JI7]

11. he was 30 when he got into the senate

he was about 30 when he got into the senate. it was sad though because between the time he won his election to the senate and the time he actually started serving in the senate his wife and daughter both died in a car accident.

there are a lot of criticisms on biden from many here but i personally like him a lot. i think he is a good guy .

[katieforeman]

22. Biden is one of my favorite Senators.

However, I think he'd be a bad choice for running mate.

A Kerry/Biden ticket might loose more votes to Nader than say a Kerry/Edwards ticket. Most of the arguments I made against Gephardt in my post,"Gephardt- 'miserable failure' as vp" also apply to Biden.

[Padraig18]

4. One word: "Yankee"

Won't help in the South. And let's not forget the "I'm the first person in my family to attend university' line that he plagarized from Neill Kinnock, when Biden ran for Prez.

[mobuto]

12. Yankee?

He's from Delaware, a former slave-holding state. The Kinnock bit was 16 years ago anyway. The guy is smart as hell, extremely articulate, and would be a very decent choice. He's also personally close to John Kerry, by all accounts.

[Padraig18]

14. The perception would matter.

He would help in the South not at all. Besides, DE is a ham sandwich blue state...

[mot78]

35. Delaware was a slave state but they're practically no SOutherner there

Maryland is more Southern than Delaware, and Maryland is now Northeastern culturally.

[cosmokramer]

5. From New England.

Don't think a double NE ticket will work. Otherwise, he is terrific.
If Clark had got the nomination, he would have chosen Kerry or Biden for balance. So Kerry will choose a NON legislative only exp person with FP experience from the south or southwest.

[mobuto]

13. Delaware is not New England

Delaware is Mid-Atlantic, held slaves, and would have gone for the South in the Rebellion had Federal troops not occupied it.

[cosmokramer]

19. Close enough, geez.

The point is Kerry needs to stray a little further from home.

[Mattforclark]

7. One word: Delaware.

[zulchzulu]

10. Hey, what's wrong with Delaware?

I grew up there. :->

I do think Biden would not be the right choice. He'll always have that plagiarism thang back in 1988 when he ran for president. He'd be a good cabinet member though...

[Mattforclark]

15. There's nothing wrong with it per se

It's just that it's a solidly blue state with more senators than representatives.

[molly]

36. Watch it!

:toast:

[Leilani]

33. That's what I was going to post

The Repugs will BEAT him with the plagerism issue.

He's a very good senator, strong on FP, but I don't think he adds anything to the ticket.

[molly]

38. Joe has more energy than the energizer bunny

he would talk them out of it!

[otohara]

8. No Way

He's changed into someone I hardly recognize

[AntiCoup2K4]

9. I'd rather have McCain than Biden

At least McCain admits he's a Republican.

No Biden, No Bayh, No Breaux.... No DLC DINO's.

[mobuto]

16. Horrible slur

Biden is a left-wing liberal Democrat. Yes he supports an activist foreign policy, but on every issue he's as liberal as anybody else in the party. You can't just make this shit up and expect to get away with it. According to the ACU, he's only two-points less liberal than Russ Feingold, for example.

[BigBigBear]

17. I agree

McCain is potential defector, but should NEVER represent the Democratic Party.

Ideas are ideas, and all well and fine, but McCain is a Republican. Period. End of story.

[wuushew]

18. Has he apologized for the RAVE Act yet?

No, you say? How liberal of him.

[mobuto]

20. Uh, the RAVE act?

It just cracks down on Ecstasy and GHB production and distribution, especially at public events. Ecstasy and GHB are very dangerous drugs. You disagree?

[wuushew]

25. I am pretty sure the ACLU opposes the Rave Act

http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy/DrugPolicy.cfm?ID=7165&c=185

Also if this act had such strong merits why was it necessary to sneak it into the Amber Alert Bill?

[mobuto]

27. Yes the ACLU opposed the RAVE Act

So what? We may agree or disagree with the specific merits of the legislation, but its not exactly a major threat to civil liberties. Its a perfectly valid law that tackles a specific and somewhat serious problem.

As for attaching it as a rider, that kind of thing happens for all sorts of laws every day of the week. Legislative maneuvering was not invented by Joe Biden.

[BigBigBear]

30. This press release

says the ACLU opposed this particular type of prosecution - esentially prosecuting club owners for NOT being DEA cops, which I agree is odious - but I didn't see where it said that they specifically opposed the legislation itself.

Anyway - lots of what I'm seeing against Biden is, in some respects, the problem that Kerry himself faces. Many years in the Senate yield votes that will come back to haunt a candidate when they seek general election votes.

I've been impressed with Biden's performance in the last year on the few TV things I've seen him on. I won't pretend I'm an expert on the finer points of his legislative record.

[elsiesummers]

21. I like McCain but Biden is far more liberal except hawkish.

He is not a Dino - that's why he's on the Judiciary Committee - only Dem's who can be counted on make it there - Breaux would never have gotten that sort of assignment, and I doubt Bayh would either.

In terms of vote getting McCain would probably do much better than Biden.

Biden is more representative of the Democratic party. He's articulate and attractive. Problem: he won't bring any states - although he is Mid-atlantic he does sort of read as NE.

Biden is certainly qualified but strategically offers little to Kerry, except that he'd probably be a great campaigner.

[pollock]

32. Isn't Biden basically pro-war?

He seems pretty much on board with the Bush agenda as far as fighting wars in Iraq and the Middle East.

[ButterflyBlood]

24. Mr. RAVE Act and Bush ass kisser?

fuck no

[arcos]

39. I totally agree...

Biden :puke: :puke: :puke:

[flaminbats]

26. Isn't the idea to provide people with a ticket they can vote for?

I would back Lieberman on the ticket again before I would support Biden..

[mobuto]

28. Why?

Joe Lieberman is far to the right of Joe Biden.

[flaminbats]

31. maybe it's a Biden thing...

I don't agree with Lieberman on many issues, but at least I can listen to him without wanting to throw rocks at my television set!

Biden does the same thing to me that Delay or Hastert does, just drives me insane with their snotty self-righteous statements made to justify any slap delivered to civil liberties. :grr:

[adadem]

29. No way. n/t

[question everything]

34. No, remember the scandal in 1988?

He was running for president, then, and then was found to plagiarize speeches by a British MP, I think, and had to withdraw.

[NNN0LHI]

37. I would prefer a Democrat as the VP choice

Just kidding...I think?

Don

[Finch]

40. As has been said not southern...

The but if polling says he plays well in Florida, Ohio and Missouri then run with him but i doubt it will... and yet I'm not sure why he would play badly in those states, well as I say polling will tell us (or more accurately Kerry's people) if he would help in the Midwest and Florida... but we'll see... also Biden is a bit old but then again he's about the same age as Nelson and only a little older than Bayh and younger than Graham… he’s an interesting possibility actually now I think about it… maybe he’ll be the big surprise VP Kerry announces but then again another long term senator? (someone with a more diverse background like Nelson or Bayh might be a better pick IMHO)… but he should be in the top 15 or so on Kerry’s list…. But then again there’s always McCain remember he’d consider it (go on flame me I deserve it for that…I think?)…

By the way anybody see that Daily Show… thing with “the armies of Rove” ? That was Ace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh and so true…

[Hippo_Tron]

41. So, is there anybody in the US Senate who is not a candidate for VP?

Cause lately it seems like people are just throwing out the names of senators that they think Kerry might want to pick.