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Oh, That Joe! (No. 7 in a Series) -- On Being the Old Man, Obama Being Steel, and the Inevitable Obama/Osama Slip-up
September 02, 2008 10:13 PM
At a town hall meeting at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del, ignored pleas from his staff to wrap up, and riffed for an hour and 15 minutes.
The evening was full of Biden-isms, including the inevitable Obama/Osama slip, made when Biden was discussing the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border "where Obama, Osama Bin Laden lives, and Obama wants to go to get him."
The ebullient son of Scranton did not disappoint, telling one questioner concerned with how the Democratic ticket would withstand "Swift boat-style" attacks that they would respond with "a straight left and a right hook. Hey baby, I want to tell ya, we ain't laying down, We are not going to lay down. Period. If you know anything about me, that's what worries people. We are not going to lay down."
At another moment, he said, "when I hear people say, ‘Hey Joe, geez, I understand your values. I connect with you. But I don’t know about that other guy.’ Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. If Barack Obama grew up in my neighborhood in Scranton or Claymont or Wilmington, Delaware, he would have been the guy who had my back. If Barack Obama had grown up in my neighborhood, he would have been the same guy he is now.
"I’ve got to tell you, I’m tired," Biden continued. "Let me tell you. If you’re looking for a very sophisticated, Harvard graduate who went to Columbia undergrad and was president of the Law Review, he’s totally intellectual. Baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet. This guy is steel. This guy is steel, and I assure you that."
(As an aside, I have to say, I'm not sure that the voters looking for a very sophisticated, totally intellectual Harvard graduate who went to Columbia undergrad and was president of the Law Review are the ones Obama needs help winning over)
At another point, Biden riffed on being the older presence on the ticket, saying, "my role in this campaign is I’m the old man. I really thought I was still in pretty good shape. But I watched when they, when Barack, as they say, 'rolled out,' his, his, Vice President nominee. Half of the people in America thought I was going to get 'rolled out.' I don’t know.
"And I was listening to one of the news broadcasts after we had that great event in Springfield, Illinois, and there...was a runway to get up to the, to get up to the microphone from the door we came out. And I came out, and it was a long way away, I didn’t want to hold people up, so I started jogging. Next morning, I listen, I think it was Gwen Ifill, who I love, Gwen Ifill said, you know, something to the effect that, 'It was a great speech, but Biden shouldn’t run.' I thought, What are you talking about I shouldn’t run? What do you mean I shouldn’t run? So, you know, I don’t like young guys anymore."
Baby, you ain't seen nothin' yet. How true.
-- Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe
September 2, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (37)
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Motor-mouth Joe Sixpack sounds
pretty disoriented in this
Dispatch No. 7.
Posted by: anon | Sep 3, 2008 1:01:31 AM
If Biden was the Republican nominee for vice president, all the libs on here would be saying that he's dumber than Quayle (and, actually, he is).
Posted by: Buford Gooch | Sep 3, 2008 12:27:26 AM
Biden is simply fantastic. He has that common touch.
Quite the contrast from plastic fantasic Palin who cites running a town into debt as her executive experience and a fictionalized stint as head of the Alaskan National Guard in charge of our national defense.
Posted by: Ryan C | Sep 2, 2008 11:55:30 PM
I clicked on that link in the article and half expected it to be singing Biden.
Maybe by November he will get his running mate's name right.
Posted by: KB | Sep 2, 2008 11:52:16 PM
Okay, new plan: Let Biden move in next door to George 11:22:02 and put Hillary in. She actually IS more like us. She doesn't have to say BABY all the time either. We get it, keep talking plans baby, 'cause you are still the one for a lot of us Hillary!
Posted by: irma | Sep 2, 2008 11:48:08 PM
s.b., that's comparing apples and oranges. Small-town politics and national politics are just not the same thing. For one thing, how many of those 7,000 people are Palin's relatives? How many people in a burg that small would even want the job?
Posted by: George | Sep 2, 2008 11:22:02 PM
I wish Joe Biden was my neighbor. He's the type of man who you can trust with the key to your house when you're away on a trip. He's a good man and will serve us well as Obama's VP.
Posted by: George | Sep 2, 2008 11:11:28 PM
Wow. For the last time, I love this guy. He's exactly what the ticket needed.
Posted by: Tungsten | Sep 2, 2008 10:57:00 PM
Obama = ugh um er ahh um well uh Present. Biden = a bawl baby. Both = Disaster. McCain/Palin = experience,reform, Country First!
Posted by: Voteing McCain/Palin'08' | Sep 2, 2008 10:56:20 PM
s.b. -- great point!
Posted by: Peach | Sep 2, 2008 10:52:03 PM
I love Biden. I'm sure seniors and blue collar family voters are also loving him.
Posted by: farah | Sep 2, 2008 10:49:25 PM
Joe Biden got less votes in both his presidential runs combined than Sarah Palin got for Mayor of that small town in Alaska pop 7000. That says something about his qualifications for President and Vice President. I'll take Sarah Palin over this dufus anyday!
Posted by: s.b. | Sep 2, 2008 10:43:28 PM
Steve_NJ:
Ignore the rumors coming from the fringe left web sites.
Posted by: Peach | Sep 2, 2008 10:36:15 PM
these arent too bad jake. the one about the young girls avoiding boys 'til 30 - that was a good one. the latest have been pretty boring.
Posted by: tony | Sep 2, 2008 10:29:27 PM
Word has leaked that Sarah Pawlenty (Palin) will drop out before her speech.
Can any source please confirm?
McCain is toast.
Posted by: Steve_NJ | Sep 2, 2008 10:26:05 PM
Everyone says that Joe is so smart on foreign affairs. But he wanted to give a blank check ($200 million) to Iran to prove we didn't hate Arabs, apparently not understanding Iranians are Persian, not Arabian.
He's been wrong on nearly every issue between the Cold War and the War on Terror. He wanted American troops in the Balkans, for goodness sake.
Posted by: Peach | Sep 2, 2008 10:25:20 PM
haha, that Joe, always entertaining. But has he gotten anything done recently? How about all those years in Washington?
Posted by: mccain 08 | Sep 2, 2008 10:20:49 PM
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