Will the Real Senator Biden Please Stand Up?
The working class hero Joe described in Obama's Springfield speech isn't the Washington insider we know.
With the decision of who he would choose as his running mate behind him, Barack Obama showed up at the old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois, for a little symbolic fist bump with history. It was seventeen months ago, in the snow and cold of a midwestern February day, that Obama announced his candidacy on the steps of the grand old structure.
Candidate Obama realized at the time his one major shortcoming:
I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness — a certain audacity — to this announcement. I know I haven’t spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I’ve been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.
Since then, everyone from Hillary Clinton to John McCain has questioned whether he has anything to recommend him for the job besides the gumption to declare for president as a sitting senator with a little more than 2 years experience under his belt.
Enter Joe Biden, who was also in Springfield to stand shoulder to shoulder with the nominee and proclaim to the world that he really didn’t mean all those things he said during the primary; that when Biden said about Obama, “I think he can be ready, but right now I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training,” he was talking about some other Obama — the one that didn’t choose him as a running mate expecting people to believe that someone with Biden’s foreign policy experience would fill in the massive holes in his own resume.
Obama certainly gave his former critic a big buildup in his speech before 30,000 of the faithful. He spared no praise for the six-term senator, even going so far as making believe that 36 years in Washington and membership in the most exclusive club in the world — the select clique that runs the Senate of the United States — doesn’t affect the way such a man looks at the world:
Joe Biden is that rare mix — for decades, he has brought change to Washington, but Washington hasn’t changed him. He’s an expert on foreign policy whose heart and values are rooted firmly in the middle class. He has stared down dictators and spoken out for America’s cops and firefighters. He is uniquely suited to be my partner as we work to put our country back on track.
A real “Man of the People” — that’s our Joe. Except Obama, who has heavily criticized John McCain for his ties to lobbyists and for taking their dirty money, seems not to have noticed that the man whose “values are firmly rooted in the middle class” also has his hand firmly rooted in lobbyist’s wallets:
The industry that has given Biden the most cash has been lawyers/law firms ($6,567,404) followed by real estate ($1,297,690). Pro-Israel groups are the 8th biggest contributing industry.
Obama may decry lobbyist cash (or at least federal lobbyist cash), but Biden has taken $344,400 from lobbyists since 1997 — making lobbyists the 10th biggest contributing industry.
That seems a direct contradiction of the Obama message.
Given Obama’s problems with flip-flopping, his positions on everything from victory in Iraq to FISA reform, and the biggie on campaign finance, a little contradiction like this should thankfully go almost unnoticed.
The Joe Biden that Obama described in his speech was a far cry from the savage questioner of Clarence Thomas, the brutal inquisitor of Robert Bork, the Democratic pit bull of the Judiciary Committee who conservatives came to hate. Instead, this was working class hero Joe, the senator with the lunch pail who commutes daily to and from Delaware on the Amtrak express to Washington:
Time and again, he has made a difference for the people across this country who work long hours and face long odds. This working class kid from Scranton and Wilmington has always been a friend to the underdog, and all who seek a safer and more prosperous America to live their dreams and raise their families.
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Rick Moran is PJM Chicago editor; his own blog is Right Wing Nut House.
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23 Comments
1. Believer:Remaking Joe for public consumption should be a far easier task than the one Team Obama faced with Barry.
I don’t think there’s ever before been a candidate that needed to hide or lie so much about his life and record. So Joe should be a piece of cake.
But you’ve gotta hand it to the Dems: they do alright. Even with the tough ones. We’re still waiting for the real Senator Obama to stand up.
Aug 24, 2008 - 3:01 am 2. Paul from Florida:Obama has done good. This is what his third or forth fundamental remake. Barry the Muslim. Then Barry the prep school, nice liberal black guy. Then Barack the Rev Write Black Power Chicago street guy, and now, Mr. Institutional who was always a US Senator, before he was a US Senator.
What a kiss. Obama finally buries all those low rent Chicago black chumps that he suckered and has fully embraced the white, institutional Democrat power structure with his hand reached out to Biden.
When the ‘Good Fight’ is over, Obama is a Senator for life. It’s easy street, the lifetime Senate club entrance bill has been paid and Barack becomes the official voice of Black America and on his way to a 100 million, at least.
Isn’t America great?
Aug 24, 2008 - 4:46 am 3. A. C.:Obama threw CHANGE under the bus. Obama threw NEW and CLEAN under the bus, too.
Aug 24, 2008 - 4:50 am 4. CR:So, Senator Biden is supposed to be BHO’s attack dog? Joe Biden is no Dick Cheney and John McCain will chew him into small pieces. I can’t wait to see how this plays out, because I’m certain Joe Biden won’t be able to control himself enough to play nice. Joe has said that McCain is a close friend so his personal attacks will be quite embarrassing since one does not generally attack close friends in public.
Aug 24, 2008 - 4:55 am 5. Terry Gain:The announcement is made at 3am and at 6 am the old guy’s campaign team puts out an ad where Biden:
1. states that Obama is not qualified to be POTUS, and
2. praises McCain.
The media blackout on all the bad news about Obama can’t survive a general election campaign. The veil of silence is slowly being lifted.
Obama’s only hope against the an opponent as good as Mccain was to choose Hillary as his running mate. Instead he chose someone who will provide great material for ad after ad which will destroy the Obama campaign.
For the Dems it’s downhill from here to November.
Aug 24, 2008 - 6:06 am 6. WR Jonas:The ball is in McCains court now. This is his chance to select a VP that will give Conservatives hope that we can save our country. The pick is his choice . A great pick will give him a victory. A misguided candidate will doom the GOP and the USA.
Aug 24, 2008 - 6:42 am 7. airbound dude:I have never had much faith in McCain so his choice here is a distillation of his vision and inner convictions .
He must prove to me and millions of others he is worthy .
Zero hour for John McCain.
Using the VP as a shield is kinda weak for one reason: Biden is NOT running fro president. It’s Obama and he must be the ONE that is on the attack. But the problem with Obama is that he never faced a challenge like McCain. He always won by default or because his oponents were too weak to attack (not counting the Chicago Way of Politics). Now that he’s facing a REAL oponent for the first time in his life, he’s not responding well to the attacks. He was wise at not accepting the townhall meetings with McCain, but now he’s forced to go through there and as the Saddleback conventtion showed: He’s not ready for it. Even with Biden and the small boost he got with that choice when the presidential candidates need to show their capabilities in front of the public he cannot use Biden when the going gets tough. If he somehow did that it would make him look so weak that he can’t defend himself. Since he’s the agent of change, he should change his Presidential spot with Biden and he take the VP spot so that Biden can protect him completely.
The democrats are indeed in a very hard spot. Buyers remorse should begin to kick around this time soon
Aug 24, 2008 - 6:42 am 8. mjk:Obama needs an “attack dog” now? Is it because he’s too much of a wuss to actually fight his own fights?
Joe Biden is a terrible choice for VP. Unless, of course, Joe Biden will be the “man behind the curtain” and Obama is just the nice looking, well pressed empty suit. Which actually makes sense.
Aug 24, 2008 - 7:27 am 9. TexEd:Remind me again, which one is Bevis and which one is Butthead?
Aug 24, 2008 - 7:33 am 10. pappy:re: paul from florida, yours was quite an eloquent depiction of the situation. i am anxious to start hearing of the foot in mouth moments from “osama america and the next pres-vice president”, bloviating joe, henceforth called b-ho and jo blo. let the gaffes begin.
Aug 24, 2008 - 8:15 am 11. barrybarryquitecontrary.com:It would be really interesting if John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his VP. All of the women in America that have their bullshite meter pegged right now with slick Barry will want to puke as JoeBlow slams Sarah Palin over and over. I can picture JoeBlow getting pissy with Gov. Palin in the VP debates and most women in America making an eternal decision to hold JoeBlow in the same contempt as say a… smarmy subway groper!
As Paul From Florida rightly prognosticated about Barry setting himself up in the rich white senator club and having a steady stream of arse kissers for life, JoeBlow’s fall from grace (I use the term liberally) could be as equally monumental as he man-handles Palin and McCain. Governonr Sarah Palin would be a cool, crisp and refreshing arctic breeze for John McCain, the Washington cesspool and the “change” most Americans can’t articulate until they see her in action.
Aug 24, 2008 - 10:06 am 12. AdrianS:With very little to offer in the form of “Change,” Joe Biden as Barack Obama’s choice says very loudly that Obama DOES INDEED NOT POSSESS SUFFICIENT EXPERIENCE TO EVEN BE A CANDIDATE — a very telling public manifestation.
And, as Joe Biden garnered only 1 to 2% of voter support for his Democrat primary bid — which ended in January — Mr. Biden brings very little to Obama’s already meager table. Not even his state’s 3 electoral votes will make a difference.
Obama’s steep fall in the most recent polls is a testament to Obama’s failure to capture the real voter’s imagination. Obama has been in serious free-fall in the polls since his Carnival to Germany ended.
But, truth be told, Obama’s association with crooks, anti-American’s and simpleton fools coupled with his caustic radical extreme positions on the issues is the real killer — such as is Obama’s third-trimester, born-alive (infanticide) grotesque plank.
Nothing has “changed,” so I suppose that the majority of voters in America will not be abiding Obama-Biden.
Aug 24, 2008 - 11:38 am 13. Rachel Peepers:Guys,
Don’t forget that Joe Biden, only months ago, vowed on national TV that he wouldn’t accept a VP offer no matter what.
From Barry, however, he’s accepting one.
So when is he speaking from the heart; telling the truth, and when does he have a clown in his belly? When is he trying to make make fools of us?
Or is this the ticket with the mouse type disclaimer at the bottom that says, “Words not valid if politically expedient.”
Look, when John Kennedy said he caught a cold and was flying back to Washington from Hawaii at the beginning of the Cuban Missile crisis, I understand the context of that untruth. And that’s okay with me.
But when lies are constant and about substantive issues like the ones Barry and Joe tell, or as I call them, The BJ team, I’m troubled.
If you want, I guess you have a constitutional right to elect a couple of liars to the most important jobs in the country.
I, though, am not comfortable doing that. John McCain may not be perfect, but he has integrity and character. And puts his country first. Well, that’s good enough for me.
The BJ team I don’t want to join. Honestly, I never know when they’re telling the truth.
So unless they’re constantly hooked up to a lie detector, for my money, they can’t be trusted.
John McCain. He’s a true American hero; someone you can count on when it counts. His word is his bond. Thus, he’ll have my vote.
Regards,
Aug 24, 2008 - 11:46 am 14. KT:Rachel, signing off.
Good points, Rachel. And just this past week, didn’t Biden lean out the window of his white pickup truck and tell reporters–”I’m not the guy.”
Aug 24, 2008 - 2:53 pm 15. kender:When confronted by the press, the only line he could come up with was a lie?
Obama needs an “attack dog” now?
Yes…as a True Hard Core Blue Bleeding Liberal Obama is unable to fight any kind of battle unless it is fighting to get to the front of a pack of whatever group is retreating from a fight today so he can be as far away from the fight as possible.
And Rachel, “The BJ Team”….that’s funny right there…that should be a bumper sticker.
Aug 24, 2008 - 10:18 pm 16. kender:Rachel, how about these slogans?
click here for new Obama Bumper Stickers
Aug 24, 2008 - 10:47 pm 17. Rachel Peepers:Kender,
Great art direction. I like your first line best. Which made me think of another one.
They’re losers. Not jobless.
Best Wishes,
Aug 25, 2008 - 1:08 am 18. Gypsy Man:Rachel XXX
Puhleeeze. Attack dog Biden is nothing but a chihuahua. How can he be an effective attack dog on McCain when Biden has been so critical of Obama and continues to be closer to McCain on Iraq and other issues than he is to Obama?
Not WRIGHT for America (www.notwrightforamerica.com) had a great spoof post on the first presidential debate being between Obama and Biden rather than Obama and McCain. Pretty telling.
Aug 25, 2008 - 1:11 am 19. Michael B.:Good post, Rick- Biden is about as bi-partisan as I am.
You have to wonder though, about the vetting process. Did anybody consider what an egotistical asshole he is? Was there nobody else that BHO could have come up with to fill the two roles of foreign policy expert and attack dog? This is almost too easy.
Aug 25, 2008 - 3:17 am 20. Dave II:Paul from FL- Great point! Though Obama in the Senate for life is one I can live with…seeing as how I’m from CA and have to live with Barbara Boxer!
And Rachel, as always, spot on, but I’m a little apprehensive in promoting the “BJ Team” theme, though if it helps as a “contraception” method in controlling unwanted Democrats…I’m all for it!
All seriousness aside though…
“OBAMA BIN BIDEN ‘08″ is my winner for bumbersticker joke of the season!
Aug 25, 2008 - 10:15 am 21. RJB News & Views « The Real Joe Biden:[...] Pamela Geller, Obama Biden Laden: The Jihad Ticket, Atlas Shrugs, August 24, 2008. Rick Moran, Will the Real Senator Biden Please Stand Up?, Pajamas Media, August 24, 2008. Joe Biden Speaks Out On Saddam’s Dangerous WMD (Video), [...]
Aug 26, 2008 - 6:11 am 22. biden stand up:[...] behind him, Barack Obama showed up at the old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois, forhttp://pajamasmedia.com/blog/will-the-real-senator-biden-please-stand-up/John McCain’s Political Viagra: Sarah PalinTo counter Obiden’s reptile dysfunction Biden, McCain [...]
Sep 10, 2008 - 9:12 am 23. cw smallwood:I want no attack dog,nor ass-=hole.Just a good vice president.
Aug 8, 2009 - 10:04 pm