Saturday, August 23, 2008

Must be in the front row!

VTK would like to congratulate self-deprecating baseball funny man Bob Uecker on his promotion to the front row of the Obama presidential ticket -- what's that? not him?


My bad. Congratulations to the anything-but-self-deprecating regular joe, Joe Biden on getting the VP nod. All things considered, I think this is a good pick. Whether I'm right about that remains to be seen (after all, I thought John Edwards was a good pick and he failed miserably in what I thought his main job was - destroying the loathesome Cheney in the VP debate). But it seems like a smart pick by Barry O.


Just Joe, Regular Joe, Joe Six Pack. According to CNN, Biden is the poorest member of the Senate, putting him in prime, non-elitist position to criticize sept-home-owner John McCain as being out of touch with non-wealthy Americans. He did just that in his first speech on the ticket when he deftly identified himself with the American people who talk about issues and problems around the kitchen table - something that he said would be difficult for McCain because he'd first have to pick one of his seven kitchen tables. Good shot. Biden likes to accentuate his Irish-Catholic Scranton background, talks like a "regular guy", fights for the common man. He may not actually be "the common man" (he went from law school to practicing law to being a county councilor to joining the US Senate), but he pulls it off successfully. Biden's a guy who appeals to moderate Republican, "regular", beer drinking, white guys in addition to "regular", beer drinking, blue collar, union white guys, both demographics that aren't exactly in Obama's wheelhouse. So, beer-drinking white guys - yes. Clinton voting women (beer-drinking or otherwise) who are still angry over the primary? Remains to be seen. Could be a problem.

Biden's also the quintessential attack dog vice presidential candidate.


Time and again, and to the distaste of some, he's shown his willingness to go after people across the aisle. He's also not been shy with witnesses and nominees in his time on Senate Committees. He's currently the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which will shore up Obama's supposed weak spot in his lack of foreign policy experience (don't recall W having much - any - experience). He also spent several years as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He remained on the committee after his chairmanship and during his questioning of Chief Justice Roberts, he referred to him as "man". As in "C'mon man, are we supposed to believe that?" There's your regular guy attack dog right there.

On the downside, he's on recent record as saying that Obama was unfit to lead. He also voted for the Iraq War and has been a Washington guy for thirty five years - both things that don't mesh with Obama's anti-Iraq-War and change messages. And then there's the allegations of plagiarism (in law school and again later in a political speech). Republicans will remind us of this and the phrasings that Deval Patrick lent to Obama.

According to this breakdown from the National Journal, Biden's long voting record ranks him in the center of the liberal-conservative spectrum amongst Democrats:

Joe Biden's voting record has generally placed him among the center of Senate Democrats ideologically in National Journal's annual congressional vote ratings, with some decided peaks and valleys. Biden entered a strong liberal phase between 1986 and 1992, when he was among the 11 most-liberal senators three times. Not coincidentally, perhaps, Biden ran for president in 1988, and he presided as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during some epic showdowns with Republican presidents. Biden's most liberal year in the ratings was 2007, when he again ran in the Democratic presidential primary. His composite liberal score of 94.2 placed him as the 3rd most-liberal senator in 2007, two ticks behind Barack Obama, who was the most liberal senator last year with a score of 95.5. In other years, Biden has been more of a centrist. Four times from 1993 to 1998 his composite liberal score fell to the 60s--most notably in 1997, when only three of the 45 Democratic senators had a more conservative rating. More recently, Biden has generally fit near the center of Senate Democrats.

(I'd give you McCain's score, but apparently he didn't vote enough to receive a composite score.)



And now on to the convention. I'm going to consider this an open thread for the week's political goings-on. Enjoy the show and comment if you like.

15 comments:

fuge said...

I just love Biden's comments about Rudy Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani's sentences only have three words, A noun a Verb and 9-11.

Anonymous said...

Teddy looked pretty good up there
It was pretty great that he made the trip.
I like the Biden Pick. He is definitely going to stir things up...

Dan Nolan said...

I agree, Mac-D. Great to see the bad-ass, liberal lion, patriarch skipper up there.

Fuge, you bring up a good point: Biden is witty in his attacks. Cutting harsh criticisms with humor is effective in attacking opponents without seeming like an asshole. Don't know if that's your point, but that's my point now.

Dan Nolan said...

And she sticks the landing! Michelle Obama nailed her speech tonight. Likeable, identifiable, eloquent, patriotic.

fuge said...

That kinda was my point...I've always liked Biden...And I feel he can do a lot of the criticism of George Bush and Republicans that I think the Democrats need to do, and then let Obama wow people with his speeches.

Ted and Michelle were great, Former Rep. Leach on the other hand...

Anonymous said...

Dan, you note that "Biden is witty in his attacks. Cutting harsh criticisms with humor is effective in attacking opponents without seeming like an asshole"

So, using your rubric, I would say that Biden focuses on being jocular, frisky, saucy, droll, and salty with not-infrequent forays into the acerbic. His effectiveness is enhanced by how he avoids giving into boorishness causticity, perniciousness, venom,
vitriole, and scurrilousness.

So, he really is the middle-of-the-road Dem he is reputed to be.

Michael5000 said...

I like Biden for his senority. I worry a little bit that Obama will win, but find he doesn't have deep enough roots in DC to get shit done. Biden adds some shitdoingability punch to the ticket.

Dan Nolan said...

That was quite a speech by Hillary. Probably the most impressive speech I've ever heard by her. Divarific. She did a great job of making the case to her supporters for Obama. The "were you in it for ..." line of questioning was powerful. The whole speech was powerful and on point, but that part laid out the choice as clear as day. And the Harriet Tubman "keep going" stuff? wow. She was so good in this speech that you almost wonder if this was the first speech of a 2012 campaign. There were undoubtedly voters who were thinking "whoa, we picked the wrong candidate". But in the end, she left no doubt about her endorsement. The Twin Cities jab at McCain was good too.

Marshall, nice topical, vtkesque analysis. Speaking of the levels of making fun list, I did, as promised, speak with the other architects of the list regarding the placement of "scurrilous". they both agreed that it may need to be bumped up 2 spots. It is currently hung up in committee, but change is on the way. Yes we can.

M5K, on the shitdoability issue, keep in mind that the Dems currently control the Legislature and are poised to pick up even more seats in both the House and the Senate to solidify their control of Congress. With a Democratic Congress, he'll get some shit done.

Dan Nolan said...

btw, VTK is officially endorsing Brian Schweitzer for President of the Universe after his speech at the convention last night. Move over Buddy Hackett!

Anonymous said...

thank you for the endorsement

Dan Nolan said...

If he's Jimmy James, who's the Matthew of the operation - Nancy Pelosi?

fuge said...

Ever hear the stories of Van Halen color coding the security barriers at concerts so they could tell security through code what chicks they wanted to have sent backstage?

I can't help but think Bill Clinton was doing the same last night.

SO Pimp!

Dan Nolan said...

The Wildcat's still got it. I'm not a big fan of the guy, but he's one hell of a speaker. Charisma coming out his ears.

Speaking of wild cats, here's an interesting little breakdown for any stray PUMAs (Party Unity My Ass) still bitterly considering voting for McCain: comparison of Senate votes by Clinton, Obama, Biden, and McCain. Which of these kitties is not like the others?

Dearest Cupcake said...

Sarah Palin frightens me like only "Focus on the Family" can. It reinforces my decision to have a absentee ballot sent to me in Peru.

Dearest Cupcake said...

p.s. check out my friend candleblog for the latest on "Dungeons and Dragons crowd for Obama." Start with the Aug. 19 post.

Obama is my DM.