Obama: 'Steel in his spine'

Joe Biden Dunk Tanks Julia Louis-Dreyfus On Ellen

Joe Biden, despite his long standing fight for women's issues, dunked Julia Louis-Dreyfuss on The Ellen Show today. Seriously, it was a benefit for breast cancer research and Joe added $10k to that fight with his winning pitch:

The Role of the Vice President

After Thursday's VP debate, I wrote that Caribou Barbie's 'Bushlike" mispronunciation of the word "nuclear" overshadowed everything else that I took in from viewing it. In all seriousness, however, and as Robert Rouse pointed out to me, there was a far more serious issue that arose. The role and constitutional powers of the office of the vice-president. For Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney got it right. In reality Joe Biden does get it right. Watch:

The McCain Health Tax

Joe Biden on his Family History

Joe Biden has to hold back some tears when he recalls his family history during Vice Presidential Debate, October 2, 2008:

Joe Biden's Reaction to the Debate

I can't wait for the veep debate next Thursday - "Shhhh. . . be vewwwwy quiet. . .I'm hunting Caribou Barbie. . ."

Caribou Barbie Sequestered (Again)

Saracudda Palin, who mysteriously vanished for several days before her big speech two days ago, has once again been whisked away to an undisclosed location. Her handlers are obviously scared of letting Yukon Cornelia speak to the press unscripted. Jonathon Alter sums it up rather nicely:

I'd imagine that Palin will dodge press conferences in favor of interviews with people like Sean Hannity, Larry King and Ellen DeGeneres. Then, when the media complain that she is being kept away, the McCain campaign will cite the half dozen or so interviews she has granted as proof that the campaign press is just bellyaching. Brief press "avails" on the plane will be useless, unless reporters ask open-ended queries designed to elicit proof of real knowledge.

That should get Palin through the next three weeks. By the end of the month, the McCain camp can say she has to go to ground to prepare for the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate, where expectations will be so low for Palin that she will likely emerge intact. It will be up to the press and public to raise enough of a stink about this, that Palin is forced to submit to real interviews with real questions that show whether her real-life experience is any preparation for assuming high office. In that sense, the Palin nomination is as much of a test of us as it is of her.

When it comes to attack dogs, at least you know what you're getting with Joe Biden - a guy who knows his stuff and how to present it. With Palin, you're left to decide for yourself which one's the pit bull. . .

"Bringing Home a Friend"

In an ad airing in Northeast Pennsylvania, Joe Biden tries to make Barack Obama more familiar to working-class voters. He compares Obama's childhood to his hardscrabble upbringing in Scranton, saying they both learned the same values. "So it's good to be coming home, and bringing home a friend," Biden concludes. The vice presidential nominee will visit Scranton on Monday. Watch:

Joe Biden - "I Accept Your Nomination"

Joe Biden accepts his party's nomination for the veep spot with Obama. As an initial supporter of Joe in the primaries, I'm absolutely thrilled by his selection, and thoroughly enjoyed his acceptance speech this evening!



As the full video is not yet available, click HERE for the full transcript of Joe's speech tonight.

Quote of the Day

Regarding Joe Biden:

“McCain knows Biden well. He knows how good he is as a knife fighter. He’ll take McCain apart,” said one Republican operative.

Hat Tip - Politico

Change AND Experience - Obama/Biden '08!

Walk a Day in My Shoes - Obama-Biden

Courtesy of the Service Employees International Union:

Barack and Joe spent a day in the shoes of average Americans last year as part of a series by the SEIU.

Barack Obama/Pauline Beck



Joe Biden/Marshall Clemmons

Joe Biden on McCain's foreign policy

Senator Joe Biden on CNN's American Morning July 16, 2008:

"We don't need someone as commander in chief who's a war hero, we need someone with some wisdom".

Straight Talk from Joe Biden at MSNBC Philly Debate

Joe Biden delivers a solid foreign policy performance last fall in Philadelphia:

"Actions have consequences; big nations can't bluff".

Joe Biden on Iraq

During debate last year on the binding Iraq-withdrawal bill that would require George W. Bush to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq within one year, Joe Biden rips Republicans for standing by Bush's horrible course (Right after Grampy McSame defended those policies).

"Mr. President, you're leading us off a cliff. Stop."

Obama Introduces Biden As Running Mate

Barack Obama in Springfield, IL


Joe Biden in Springfield, IL

Biden-Obama Deal?

Joe Biden wants to beat Bill Richardson tonight. And Obama could help him do that.

A source close to the Biden campaign described a possible arrangement, now under discussion between the two camps, that could apply to certain precincts where Biden can't meet the 15 percent viability threshold, but where he is backed by local officials with the clout to move Biden supporters to Obama. In return, Biden could capture some of Obama's overflow in precincts where the Illinois senator has more than enough support to win.

Of course the details are secret, but team Biden knows exactly how much support it needs, and where, for the Delaware senator to finish fourth, ideally in double digits. Biden's poor showing in one public poll after another has confounded many Hawkeye political observers, given the large and enthusiastic crowds he draws, along with his impressive foreign policy resume. But while Biden was unable to raise the money needed to build the statewide ground organization needed to contend here, he did cultivate key relationships across rural Iowa. And some of these state and local officials have informed the campaign that they are backing Obama as their second choice.

A fourth place finish would not turn Biden into a favorite for the nomination, but it would allow him to participate in the Democratic debate on Saturday in New Hamsphire, one last chance for the political veteran to make his mark.

The Biden source described the possible Obama deal as "viability for victory." An Obama source confirmed that discussions had taken place, but that nothing had been decided.

But as of this afternoon, it appeared no agreement could be reached. Biden campaign Iowa State director Danny O'Brien said "there are no discussions underway and there will be no deal with any campaign. We believe Sen. Biden is strong enough on his own."

Plan for Iraq

The debate about Iraq in Washington centers on a false choice that is also a bad choice. Do we continue on President Bush's failing course and hand the problem off to the next President? Or do we just leave and hope for the best?

There is a third way. . .



Plan For Iraq

Biden - Impeachment on the Table

Joe Biden stated unequivocally yesterday that he will move to impeach President Bush if he bombs Iran without first gaining congressional approval.

Biden, speaking at a candidate forum held Thursday in Portsmouth, said he does not typically engage in threats, but had no qualms about issuing a direct warning to the Oval Office. The forum focused on the Iraq war and foreign policy.

When an audience member expressed fear of a war with Iran, Biden replied “The president has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran, and if he does, as Foreign Relations Committee chairman, I will move to impeach,” said Biden, whose words were followed by a raucous applause from the local audience.

Biden said he is in the process of meeting with constitutional law experts to prepare a legal memorandum saying as much and intends to send it to the president. He added that the best deterrent to prevent pre-emptive military action in Iran is to make it clear, even if it is at the end of his final term, action will be taken against Bush to ensure “his legacy will be marred for all time.”

Biden for President

Joe Biden is the best fighter, the most quick-witted.

By: John Nichols for The Nation:

I'm not in the habit of making campaign endorsements, and if I was, I'd probably urge a write-in vote for Russ Feingold, Joe Biden's colleague on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who combines Biden's political smarts with a record on military adventurism and civil liberties that's far more to my liking. But I do endorse realism, and as such I can't buy the argument that Biden is significantly less acceptable than the Democratic front-runners. Biden maintains 100 percent ratings from Planned Parenthood, the League of Conservation Voters, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Citizens for Tax Justice, the Children's Defense Fund and the NAACP; and 93 percent from the AFL-CIO--these numbers are every bit as liberal as his competitors'.

I don't forgive Biden's wrong vote to authorize George W. Bush's attack on Iraq, but neither do I forgive those of Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. Unlike either of them, Biden tried to constrain the Administration when he and Senator Richard Lugar fought in 2002 to require diplomatic efforts before military options could be considered. As Foreign Relations Committee chair, Biden remains far more engaged than his opponents in the debate about how to address the Iraq crisis. That does not mean his "solutions" are better, but it does mean he is more agile than most Democrats when it comes to debating policy.

It is, to be sure, a hard-won agility. Biden has more bruises than his fellow Democrats because he has gotten in the ring more often than most of them. His bruises are the marks of experience and determination, which ought not to be underestimated. At a time when too many Democrats are prone to pulling punches, he knows how to throw them. No Democrat with an eye on the 2008 prize failed to thrill when Biden used an otherwise forgettable October debate to kneecap the GOP front-runner. While the other Democrats poked one another to uninspired effect, Biden ridiculed Rudy Giuliani for waging a campaign based on "a noun, a verb and 9/11." This was Biden at his best: fast on his feet, muscularly partisan, devastatingly effective at tossing barbs. These strengths have kept the Delaware senator on the national scene for thirty-five years, and they make him the most quick-witted of this season's Democratic contenders.

Of course, Biden is not always at his best, as a failed 1988 presidential quest and several false starts since then can attest. He's a big talker, and he's made some big gaffes. But no Democratic contender has been so steadily "on" during this campaign. And even if Biden's poll numbers remain soft, that October debate confirmed his ability to stir things up.

In the blood-sport competition for the presidency, Biden's flair for finding the GOP jugular ought to count for something among Democrats who grumble about their last two nominees' failure to play offense. Of an old breed of Democrats who fought their way out of the back rooms of urban East Coast politics, Biden beat an entrenched Republican to enter the Senate, held his seat during GOP landslide years, used his Judiciary Committee chairmanship in the 1980s to block some of Ronald Reagan's Supreme Court nominees and corporate-sponsored tort "reform," and not only wrote the Violence Against Women Act but got it reauthorized by two Republican-led Congresses. Biden is best understood as a relatively rare political archetype: a Democrat who pays less attention to internal party politics than to winning elections and governing. This skill makes him the one Democrat Republicans feel compelled not merely to attack but to answer. That's because Biden has so far been the one Democrat who has consistently understood the importance of taking the fight to the other guys.