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Oh, That Joe! (No. 9 in a Series) - Wherein Jill Biden and John McCain Dance Drunkenly on a Tabletop in Greece
September 05, 2008 5:23 PM
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., likes to tell crowds that he and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., are friends.
In a packed gymnasium at Maple Point Middle School in Langhorne, Pa., this afternoon, before a receptive crowd, Biden explained just how close they are.
"John McCain is my friend," said the loquacious Blue Hen. "I admire John McCain. I know of no man or woman I have ever met that has more personal courage than John McCain. We have been friends for over 33 years. We have traveled together. When John was Navy liaison he staffed me for three or four years everywhere I traveled in the world.
"Jill and John are good friends," Biden said, referring to his wife Dr. Jill Biden, who had just introduced him. "Matter of fact there’s a best-selling book written about us called The Nightingale's Song about John and some of his graduating class from Annapolis that references Jill and John in the book as good buddies.
"She doesn’t like the reference,'" Biden added, "but John, John’s a great guy. John was staffing me in Greece. I was meeting with the Prime Minister Papandreou and we were supposed to go to this fancy dinner and Jill said 'Do we have to go to this dinner?' And John said, 'No, no, no I know this great place for dinner.'
"And there was a place literally down on the docks, where Zorba lived I think, and so I had to go to the fancy thing and I come back down and I find it, and we’re wandering through these alleys on the dock -- you’re gonna get very angry at this Jill -- but I walk around the corner and there’s these cement tables like down at the shore you know, the cement base ,the cement table, and I walk in and Jill and John are standing up on the table drinking ouzo dancing with one another, and I’m thinking, 'I’ve never trusted John since then, Jillie.'
"But he’s a great guy," Biden said, "and if John called me today and said 'Joe -,' like when they went after John McCain, when Bush went after him in South Carolina with the scurrilous comments they made about his character, I called him and said, 'John, where do you want me? I’m an Al Gore man but where do you want me? I will show up anywhere in America to testify to the kind of man you are.' And he is a good man, he is a good man."
-- Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe
September 5, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (88)
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is it just me, or does anyone wish they saw Jill dancing with McCain?
I surely would have loved it :)
Posted by: maria | Jan 27, 2009 9:53:43 PM
Who is going to be the first brave soul among all the media experts to actually put Barry's full name in print. Come on do it-BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA. He has even cleaned some of the web sights. John McCain isn't ashamed of being called John Sydney McCain. What's biting Barry??
Posted by: gordon | Sep 7, 2008 10:21:22 AM
That was classy on Biden's part. To me that contrasts with the mean-spiritedness of the other vice-presidential nominee.
McCain, Obama and Biden have all shown more personal class and integrity than Gov. Palen.
Posted by: Reality-based | Sep 7, 2008 4:40:30 AM
MichaelRayThompson said: i just know that John McCain is a great individual with a very compelling life story. He's an American hero. Barak Obama is a one-term Senator. America. You decide?
I say: So you're suggesting McCain should retire and write his autobiography, and Obama should be President?
Posted by: Tom J | Sep 6, 2008 7:15:13 PM
Realisticlib, last year McCain hadn't sold out to the Rove Team.
Posted by: Tom J | Sep 6, 2008 7:08:04 PM
Last year Biden said he'd be willing to campaign WITH John McCain or against him.
Apparently, Biden was willing to be on any party's ticket!
Posted by: joseyj | Sep 5, 2008 5:47:59 PM
Joe just wants someone to like him!
Posted by: RealisticLib | Sep 6, 2008 6:13:27 PM
Wait a minute -- these comments run backwards? God, that's annoying. I just wasted several minutes trying to make sense of the conversation here, before finally realizing these comments are set up to run newest to oldest -- the opposite of practically every other comments system on the web.
Let me ask: Do you people actually scroll to the bottom and read up or something? How else are you bantering back and forth with each other? (And doesn't this need to scroll backwards annoy you?)
Posted by: Thomas | Sep 6, 2008 3:02:14 PM
I love Joe Biden, and wish he was at the top of their ticket, since Hill is out....I'd feel much safer if by some horrible fate I get my default Prez...the inexperienced black guy with questionable judgement.
I loved Hill, I like Joe, can't stand BO for Prez.
PROUDLY SUPPORTING McCAIN/PALIN/BIDEN
Posted by: Debra | Sep 6, 2008 2:48:34 PM
Where is all this hate coming from? Have we gotten so base in this country that one candidate says something nice about another and he's slammed for it?
This election isn't about personalities or who can attack whom best. It's about big problems that require us getting out of this smear at all costs way of electing the best people.
I've listened to McCain/Palin twice today trying to be open minded. Their entire focus is on a war 35 years ago or a war today or what war next. One mention of *I know times are tough* and then back to war.
Listen to these people and quit getting mired in the attacks or lack thereof.
Shame on you Tapper. An educated electorate depends on a rigorous media. You guys all failed us getting into Iraq, don't fail us again.
Posted by: G Davis | Sep 6, 2008 2:36:00 PM
God love him, he seems like a very decent guy, as much as I don't want his ticket to win.
Posted by: Dudley Smith | Sep 6, 2008 1:42:44 PM
If the quote in the article was all Biden said, I can see why Obama supporters would be mad at him. However, I saw his speech on C-Span yesterday and he went on to say a lot more. After praising Mc Cain the man, Biden went on to say how much he and McCain disagree on issues, and that even while travelling together, they would get into big arguments about some of those issues. He praised the man, not the man's policies. I see nothing wrong with that.
Posted by: Luis | Sep 6, 2008 11:50:43 AM
Seriously, aren't you more worried about Biden having to step into the presidency than you are Palin having to?
Posted by: marylou | Sep 6, 2008 11:26:25 AM
Remember when Obama said Rev. Wright was like the crazy uncle you hide in the attic? Maybe he's got room for Joe up there too.
Posted by: marylou | Sep 6, 2008 11:21:27 AM
It's amazing that Biden was picked over others including Hillary. Was Obama's ego too big to choose a woman who won 18 million votes? Do you all remember that he played Jay Z's "99 problems" as his victory song in Iowa where lyrics go, "I've got 99 problems but a B**** isn't one of them." Check out the Huff Post for full story on that. That says it all.
He's chosen this joker--a two time losing presidential candidate--to run with. Visually, it looks like Obama is going toward the past and McCain is headed into the future with an energetic woman. What happened to change? Biden has been in office longer than McCain!
My theory: it was an "insider" pick. Pelosi or Dean made it for him. Obama is a puppet of the party. The DNC doesn't want Obama. They want power...power they can get by controlling a novice. It's the liberal version of Bush/Cheney.
Posted by: katherine | Sep 6, 2008 9:55:50 AM
Biden has a son deploying overseas. Clearly he is terrified of having Obama C-I-C. Can you blame Joe for thinking of his son's safety.
Posted by: geevill | Sep 6, 2008 8:09:27 AM
Biden has trivialized himself
and his utterances down to a
value of zero.
Posted by: anon | Sep 6, 2008 4:08:51 AM
Biden is funny the same way
a guy with a screw loose
sounds funny. That's why they
are following him around and
doing a series on him.
Posted by: anon | Sep 6, 2008 4:04:56 AM
BIDEN = "ABSENT"
The media has COMPLETELY forgotten about me !!!
Posted by: McCain/Palin 2008 | Sep 6, 2008 3:12:22 AM
I don't know what's worse Obama being the heart beat of the Presidency or Joe Biden being one heartbeat away, tell me again why Hilary Clinton's not on this ticket..... ah I forgot because Obama is scared of girls.
Posted by: raenn | Sep 6, 2008 2:48:18 AM
"John McCain is my friend," said the loquacious Blue Hen. "I admire John McCain. I know of no man or woman I have ever met that has more personal courage than John McCain.
IS BIDEN NOW ON MCCAIN / PALIN / BIDEN ticket now ?
SO I get it now : "McCain/Palin/Biden 2008" vs "OBAMA"
Posted by: McCain/Palin 2008 | Sep 6, 2008 2:39:28 AM
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