Buh-Biden
 

See ya! Joe Biden. As many are predicting this could have been the shortest Presidential Campaign in some time....

For those that haven't seen it yet, here is Biden on Barak Obama....

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”


And were off!

He didn't really say that....did he?

Thats not too intelligent.

Oh he said it a couple of hours ago. It will blow up shortly. The liberals don't even know how to spin it at. They are still in shock. Will they try the "mis-quote" angle or "botched joke" approach.:huh:

Biden is probably one of the brightest people in the Senate. His Obama comment seems to be dead on...

-spence

There's an approach.

It's like that billboard across the state "He's an articulate black man", no - it should properly read "He's an articulate man"...

If this is true and not taken out of context, it's more than a little oops. 'Course it will get piled on for the same reason a dog licks his you get the picture...

Much ado about nothing...

I'd wager he meant clean as in clean cut. This is often how Biden speaks and seems to fit the context of his statement.

And John, I don't think there's any getting around the fact that part of Obama's appeal is that he's one of the first black figures that's has universal appeal.

Sounds like those who oppose political correctness are calling the kettle black.

-spence

Personally, It doesn't bother me that he said that, but when you are out there hustling votes, saying something like that will cost you a few....from the people who DO care about what he said.

And the media is just waiting to find something to pounce on someone about.....you have to choose your words EXTREMELY carefully when you decide to run.

The non-story angle doesn't play here, just ask John Kerry. News outlets like the conservative Drudge Report are already running.

http://www.drudgereport.com/

Even strict liberal Bloggers like DailyKos and Atrios are on it.

What exactly is a "Mainstream" African American anyway? I know I wouldn't be comfortable asking a black man if he is 'mainstream' or not.

Maccaca... "If not you'll get stuck in Iraq...."

Welcome aboard Joe.

Ant yet the Drudgereport dosn't even have the original source for the quote!

I like a man who can speak openly. This is what we need...

-spence

:hihi: As do I, this could be fun. He wasn't a candidate more than a couple of hours. Can you imagine 4 years of these quotes? Honestly, Joe could fit right in here at S-B. Remember this gaffe? How many times has this issue been discussed on our board? http://youtube.com/watch?v=OIT3jUrNTX0

Ok, reading this in context I think it's even less of a big deal.

So Obama is a pretty boy with loads of charisma, a cinderella story and no experience.

Some tough words, but like I said he's dead on.

-spence

We'd end up with another website like this one....

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushisms.htm

Looks like its cut and run from poor Joe among the liberal ranks. Here is the bloodthirsty nature of this game. Not only are the conservatives trying to whip this up, the Liberals who back other liberal candidates are stepping on his throat. This from an extremely popular super liberal blog.

From the Uber liberal DailyKos:


It's sort of ironic that Biden stepped in it big time the same day he announces his exploratory committee for president. Let's recap:

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

So some are saying that an editing decision could've made the quote sound worse.

OK, I'm not a big Biden fan, so I wouldn't be disappointed to see him drop out. But I have to say this: what if the Observer punctuated casually? That is, what if there is supposed to be a comma before 'who,' making it a non-restrictive relative clause:

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American, who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

Thus he would mean Obama is both

a). the first mainstream African-American candidate for president

and

b). articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.

It's within the realm of possibilities. But then is he saying that Carol Moseley Braun wasn't "mainstream" even though she represented the fifth largest state (in population) in the U.S. Senate? Is he saying that Jesse Jackson wasn't "mainstream" even though he won 11 primaries in 1988 and 6.9 million votes? The population of Delaware is 783,600. Heck, he won Michigan with 55% of the vote.

So either 1) he's a patronizing %$%$%$%$%$%$%$, or 2) he's a historical revisionist %$%$%$%$%$%$%$. Either way, he's an %$%$%$%$%$%$%$. And either way, the racial element is inescapable.

When he said "clean" do you think he was referring to his pers. hygeine or lack of scandal?

Not sure... I am still stuck on "mainstream."

Is someone like Sharpton mainstream? Is Jesse J. mainstream?

Mainstream as in universal appeal. No, Sharpton and Jackson don't have mainstream appeal outside of the black communities.

-spence

You'd think the called someone a Macca or something!

You agree that he's the first mainstream black man to possess those qualities?

With real Presidential ambition and the media spotlight?

If he's not the first he'd be among select company. Help me out by naming a few.

-spence

I didn't see the qualifiers of "media spotlight", and "real presidential ambition" in Joes quote and neither did anyone else. I do agree with his overall statement but the word "first" in my mind has really opened him up to attacks from both sides. And Bronko's right, any candidate that won 11 primaries is mainstream whether we'd like to admit or not. Jesse Jackson and Shirley Chisolm are and were considered, bright, articulate and clean by a huge number of Americans. Maybe not by your's or my standards but we're only one vote each. Maybe he meant "one of the first".

He didn't use those qualifers but wasn't he talking about presidential candidates and not African American men in general (unless I'm missing your point)?

It was all his opinion so he obviously thought Jesse and Shirley weren't viable, mainstream candidates.

Yep, Your right but my point is he left himself open to some very broad interpretation of his comment and as we've already seen both sides are running with it.

As fate would have it he is scheduled to be on the Daily Show with John Stewart tonight. I wonder if he cancels. If he goes on, I am sure Stewart will throw a few cute little jabs at him, then they'll let him lick his wounds a bit as they both bash the President. Textobook slip-up triage.

Fair enough - Its a new world with the net and youtube and anyone who doesn't adjust accordingly is going to be in trouble.

That's just the information manipulation age we now live in. Biden thinks and speaks off of the cuff, which can certianly be dangerous.

But in the end the people will decide, and his foreign policy expertise might just in the end make him a fine decider.

-spence

Another one for the Political forum :bgi:

This just in... Al Sharpton takes a bath every day. :grins:

Now that this silly story has been flushed from the news cycle, there is one observation worth making.

Biden was attacked from the far right and far left.

To me this indicates:

1) Both extremes are very threatened by his running
2) He really is a centrist

-spence