2008 is shaping up to be damn near a single-issue election: who has a real depth of foreign policy experience, together with the political courage to put it to good use?By those measures, Sen. Joe Biden stands head, shoulders, and most of his torso above all of his opponents.
He has been "with-it" on Iraq for every step of the mile, and he has been offering the only practical political solution we have heard out of anybody -- a well-managed federalist partition.
And you know what else? He is refreshingly plain-spoken.
We believe Joe Biden will make a stronger-than-expected showing as the consensus choice in the Iowa caucuses -- which will in turn propel him into the top tier, at least for a time.
Don't believe us? Check out this excellent new NYT article by Jeff Zeleny. It contains and reinforces everything the Comet loves about him.
Senators are cursed as presidential candidates. Senators from small states are cursed even more. I've always wondered whether, in states with only a single member in the U.S. House of Representatives, winning the statewide vote for the house was actually more prestigious than winning one of the two statewide votes for Senate.
ReplyDeleteI don't see Biden raising enough money to hang with the top three Democratic candidates but I do think he, along with Bill Richardson, make very formidable VP candidates.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Schultzy. He could surely play the role attack-dog pretty well, and he would nicely shore up the weaknesses of either Obama or Edwards.
ReplyDeleteBiden is a great candidate.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure whom I want to throw my support behind at this point.
I suppose Hillary has the best shot at winning depending on who her VP is but you never know in Presidential politics.
Unless I'm mistaken, it's nearly too late for Pennsylvania to move up its primary, so unless you are planning to donate money or volunteer for a candidate out of state, it's all academic for us. (I say that because I intend to vote for whomever is the Democratic nominee.)
ReplyDeleteBiden may be the best foreign policy mind among those running. Then again, I believe he initially supported the war in Iraq, while Obama--whose opinion was admittedly meaningless as he was a state senator at the time--opposed it.
I also think he's not done putting his foot in his mouth.
Biden referred to the US Military as "high tech bullies" when we attacked Afghanistan after 9/11 - this alone completely disqualifies him for the Presidency...the guy's a joke.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Would love to have heard the context. It's certainly very easy to make Joe Biden to sound like a joke without any context.
ReplyDeleteIn re Potts and "foot in mouth" disease - I think if most of the country was willing to forgive Bush his malapropisms (and probable stupidity) as an endearing personality trait, they really ought to get over themselves and forgive Biden his blunt speech as an endearing personality trait.
As to his vote on Iraq - I'm pretty sure he's on-record as saying he *very specifically* was asked to authorize the war in order to "strengthen Bush's hand at the U.N." You've got to remember the context of that vote: for those who actually had to vote; to vote against the resolution was to tie the presidents hands.
It was wrong, of course, and a mistake the congress probably won't be in a hurry to make again.
Then again, I'm not sure he didn't feel the time was ripe to get rid of Saddam. He just wanted to do it at the head of a real world coalition, and do it with a plan for Day 2 and beyond.
Larry King to the rescue!
ReplyDeleteLK: But Speaker Hastert said about you that "The last thing our country needs right now is Senator Joe Biden calling our armed forces a high-tech bully, and his comments are completely irresponsible." How do you respond to that?
JB: Well, I respond by saying I did not call our forces high- tech bullies. If he had read the whole sentence, I said, "We are being called high-tech bullies and bombing indiscriminately," and I ended the sentence, as Colin Powell said in a public hearing, he said, "And you ended it by saying, 'And that is not true.'"
I'm a little disappointed that Speaker Hastert would do that. I called Speaker Hastert twice and asked him to call me. He wouldn't take my calls, which, quite frankly, kind of surprised me. I thought -- that's not -- anyway, I'm just a little surprised.
NOTE: If you're throwing Denny Hastert in his face, there's probably not a Democratic candidate you don't think is a joke.