Aug 25 2008
Can Biden Take Back All Those Nice Things He Said About McCain Without Losing All Credibility And Respect?
Barack Obama is asking a lot of Joe Biden. He is asking Joe Biden to go out and be his political Pit Bull and attack McCain in line with Obama’s misguided policies and shaded spin. But can Biden take back all those nice things he said about McCain over the years and retain any credibility and respect?
In an April speech at Washington’s Georgetown University, Biden spoke highly of McCain’s recently unveiled foreign policy plan.
“To his credit, John repudiates some of the Bush administration’s approach to the world,†Biden said. “He recognizes that the power of our example is as important as the example of our power … that allies we respect, not disdain, can advance our interests. He is especially eloquent about his abhorrence for war — as John is uniquely placed to be.â€
Biden, who voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq but opposed the surge, said repeatedly in 2004 that things would have gone better there had the administration listened to calls from him, McCain and others for more troops.
“John McCain and Joe Biden said, send more troops, we need more troops,†Biden said in an October 2004 appearance on CNN’s “American Morning.â€
Days later, Biden said on CBS’s, “Face The Nation,†that he’d “feel a lot better†if he knew Bush “was going to start to listen to John McCain instead of the secretary of defense, because they have totally different — no, I shouldn’t say totally — many — have very different views of how to proceed.â€
Now Biden has to take all that back and toe the Obama surrender at all costs line. Can he do that? Is the lust for power so great he will backstab is longtime friend?
And on a personal level, Biden last summer called McCain “one of my heroes,†according to the Congressional Record.Â
“I consider him my friend,†Biden said. “I believe if neither he nor I were senators and I picked up a phone and called him and said, ‘I need you to show up at such-and-such a place, I can’t tell you why,’ he would be there.â€
And in a 2005 appearance on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,†Biden in an answer that was excerpted in the recent McCain ad, said that he “would be honored to run with, or against, John McCain, because I think the country would be better off — be well off no matter who …â€
All McCain has to do to neutralize Biden and make him look like a pathetic lackey is keep exposing all of Biden’s kind and heart felt words for his friend McCain. Americans will figure out the rest and see it for what it is. And that will end the race real quick, when it becomes clear Obama asked Biden to take out his friend – that will expose the Chicago mafia-like politician in Barry. And how ironic it is too fellow senators doing this? History repeats.
Et tu Joe?
I still say America is fed up with the attack style politics and hyper partisanship, which is why Obama got as far as he did. Not only did he tap a DC insider to help ‘change’ DC, he has asked him to take on his friend for political expediency. I just don’t see this working for Americans. I know the inside the beltway crowd is pretty tolerant of this kind of thing, but America is not and are very fed up with it.
I feel the strongest point to make about Obama-Biden is the fact that they possess the most and second-most liberal voting records in the Senate, respectively.
Bernie Sanders is an avowed Socialist. These two even beat him. The only difference between them and Bernie is that Bernie has the guts to admit he’s a commie. Is this what you want America?
I just think we’re wasting time playing gotcha with these two over things they’ve said during political campaigns. Everyone knows politicians change their opinions for power, what is it that’s so revealing here? What America doesn’t know unless we tell them is that these two will turn us into Cuba if given the chance.
Gwood,
We can never do enough to remind the moderate voter Obama is not what he has been PR-wrapped to represent. To destroy the Messiah one simply needs to bring him back down to earth. Voting against a mortal man who has been hiding behind a media curtain of deception is easy to Americans.
“I feel the strongest point to make about Obama-Biden is the fact that they possess the most and second-most liberal voting records in the Senate, respectively.”
Really? Wow, what an AMAZING coincidence that the Pres and VP nominees just happen to have the most and second-most liberal voting records. And isn’t it amazing that when Kerry ran for Pres in 2004, he had the most liberal voting record? And now he can’t even show up in the top two? How disappointing that must be for him.
Question: if Hillary had become the VP, would she then have somehow had “the second-most liberal voting record”?
C’mon, guys – this is transparent enough that a 5 year could see through it. How childish can you get?
Please define how one determines “the most liberal voting record”, and please explain how the Democratic Presidential nominee *ALWAYS* seems to claim that title every 4 years.
I believe the American people are smart enough to know that a politician is allowed to say something nice about his opponent.
Only the GOP seems to think overwise. And now, apparently, so do you.
Fair question.
Here’s a link to the ratings from the National Journal.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/sen/lib.htm
As you can see, John Kerry now finds himself in the top third. I suppose he wasn’t running for President in ’07, so didn’t feel the need to line up the evidence trail for the anti-capitalist vote. If Hillary had not headed toward the middle and ceded the far-left vote to Obama, she wouldn’t need to worry about the VP slot, now would she?
I’m a capitalist, so yes, I fear those who vote the way Obama and Biden did. They show reckless disregard for the private sector.
It amazes me that the same people who believe the earth’s climate to be so fragile that a few ten-thousand parts per million of CO2 added to the atmosphere will somehow cause exponential, cataclysmic change….cannot get their minds around the possibility of an economic disaster born of the combination of oppressive regulation and making our nation’s employers and investors the declared enemies of tax policy.
Fair question.
Here’s a link to the ratings from the National Journal.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/sen/lib.htm
As you can see, John Kerry now finds himself in the top third. I suppose he wasn’t running for President in ’07, so didn’t feel the need to line up the evidence trail for the anti-capitalist vote. If Hillary had not headed toward the middle and ceded the far-left vote to Obama, she wouldn’t have needed to worry about the VP slot, now would she?
I’m a capitalist, so yes, I fear those who vote the way Obama and Biden did. They show reckless disregard for the private sector. Their policies usually mean big trouble for poor people. Ironic isn’t it?
It amazes me that the same people who believe the earth’s climate to be so fragile that a few ten-thousand parts per million of CO2 added to the atmosphere will somehow cause exponential, cataclysmic change….cannot get their minds around the possibility of an economic disaster born of the combination of oppressive regulation and making our nation’s employers and investors the declared enemies of tax policy.
Great post GWood.
Bresch, I have previously been in the financial services industry for 20 years. I have also been a leader in a group that organized to bring together all faiths, creeds, colors to make a difference. And it did. We did great work. It continues to this day. (o will know this group.)
Through all that experience, I can tell you this: what liberals advocate regarding the economy KEEPS THOSE DOWN AND DEPENDENT. It does NOT help, it harms.
High taxes: harms middle America. How? Ask this- who will buy the goods that middle Americans make if the government is taking 70% of taxpayers spending money? And don’t tell me the government does one single thing well when it comes to managing our taxes. Social Security? That system would be sued for malfeasance if it were a private sector entity. 2% return over decades is absolutely unacceptable. Compounding of interest could have helped millions be millionaires if their taxes/fica payments had been invested. Don’t take my word for it, do the numbers for yourself.
Stock ownership: 50% of the country owns stocks, many through their 401ks. Stocks are an investment n America. Over the longhaul they are great increasers of wealth.
Hardcore facts.
The truth is that liberals want to through money at everything they really don’t want to deal with personally. And in doing so, they make those weak that they claim to help. And it make those dependent vs. self-supporting which takes away honest pride and the enjoyment of achievement.
Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he will eat for the rest of his life.
ivehadit
the dems would say, give me a fish and I’ll wait for another one tomorrow. find somebody with an extra fish that they worked hard to catch and take it away from them and give it to me, don’t I deserve that fish because I have to just sit here and wait for it?
First of all, no VP is perfect. They all have some baggage or past statements that need to be explained away. Most pundits/insiders are predicting that McCain will likely choose Romney – if so, McCain and Romney will have to explain away all of the nasty things they said about one another during the primary.
As for Biden’s prior praise about McCain, I believe that Biden can legitimately explain why he has changed his mind about McCain in a way that will highlight one of McCain’s weaknesses. McCain has significantly changed and abandoned his principles during and after the RNC primary. http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/flipflops He was against Bush’s tax cuts, now he is for them. He was against Gitmo, holding enemy combatants indefinitely, water-boarding, etc., now he is for all of these things. He was against off-shore drilling, now he is for it. He’s now even against his own lobby-reform bill – the same one he co-sponsored. The list goes on and on. As you can see from the link I provided, he has moved hard to the right and changed his position on a number of important policy issues I believe purely to pander for votes. Can someone please name one important policy issue that McCain differs from Bush? You will be hard pressed to identify a single one.
If Obama/Biden are smart, Biden will respond to these earlier statements by highlighting the fact that McCain is no longer the principled moderate that he used to be. This could become a powerful campaign narrative if it sticks because McCain moderate/independent image is his biggest asset among moderate/independent voters. I respected McCain as a politican and actually thought I’d consider voting for him depending on who got the DNC nomination. Unfortunately, the McCain campaigning today is hardly the man that I thought he was. To me, he seems like another standard GOP candidiate that is willing to say anything that will get him elected.
“If Obama/Biden are smart…” HA!!! (even if Biden does love to claim he has a higher IQ than anyone who questions him.)
“I respected McCain as a politican and actually thought I’d consider voting for him…” DOUBLE HA! never believe a lib who says he might not vote lib. ever.
“To me, he seems like another standard GOP candidiate that is willing to say anything that will get him elected.” Oh, and throw Jeremiah Wright under the bus Obama isn’t? TRIPLE HA!
thas’ three strikes, YURRR OUT!
WWS, I love it: this is what I had copied from conguys comment, before I read yours.
If Obama/Biden are smart
but I was gonna say, that’s a mighty big IF, I’ve seen no evidence of it.
and Conguy,(what an appropriate name) there is no way in hell you ever ‘considered’ voting for McCain. I would calculate that chance the same as the chance I would vote for Obama. I’ve never thought I would like to have a Marxist, socialist government. I personally like the concept of freedom.
Whew! I shoulda proofread my previous post, LOL!
Great post redteam.
Off topic a bit, but, hasn’t it been refreshing these past 2-3 weeks when the Truth about o came out in full bloom, especially at Saddleback? Saddleback:a place so many thought was a set-up to hurt McCain.
The intellectual dishonesty of the media/Left/global socialists just makes us all sick. Literally.
The Annenberg project is VERY interesting…how long have you been buddies with Ayers, o? No, really, the truth, please.