Obama Picks Biden
Terry Trippany on Aug 23 2008 at 3:35 am | Filed under: Election 2008
Update: Rush Limbaugh’s wish comes true. McCain camp out with an ad already.
Joe Biden has been dusting off his Democrat veep bona fides for a while now and it appears to have paid off for him. Barack Obama announced that the man who said “We don’t need as a commander-in-chief a war hero. John’s a war hero” will be his running mate as of this morning.
Official Campaign Image Veers Close to Bobbleheads
This is Obama’s foreign policy pick, designed to add experience to the ticket.
Joe Biden simultaneously launched and killed his short lived Presidential bid with the following statement about Barack 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.”
No spin or cute insertions of missing context could salvage his run.
As for the left they will come on board quickly but Biden does come with some baggage for the left. The first knock of course should be that Biden represents anything but change. He has been in office since the Nixon days and is a true Washington insider. He voted for the border fence but stated that he did it because of his stance against drugs and not illegal immigration. On the drug front the left will have issues with his drug war legislation. He defended the federal agents in Waco.
The left seems particularly peeved at his record on crime legislation, i.e. that he is not progressive enough (read too tough). He also appeared on Meet the Press and stated that he would not cut off funding for Iraq.
As luck would have it though Joe Biden is a politician and a Democrat. Thus he speaks out of both sides of his mouth.
Joe Biden voted to approve force in Iraq, a move that will be sure to anger some on the left. But that put him in the position to have to defend the vote while simultaneously undercutting the effort. In April he half heartedly defended the surge while calling for for withdrawal on the notion that we are “treading water” in Iraq.
Keep in mind that his son went to war in Iraq and that Biden himself voted for the war. This will be a Democratic talking point.
On abortion Joe Biden received a 0% rating from the National Right to Life Committee, meaning he is pro-choice. His record on that front is mixed. As a catholic he believes that life begins at conception and opposed partial birth abortions. But he falls short on many key issues:
- Supports allowing minors to cross state lines for abortions.
- Supports expanding embryonic stem cell research.
- Voted no on parental notification for minors that go out of state to get abortions.
- Voted no on criminal penalties for criminal acts that harm babies of pregnant mothers during the commission of a crime.
- Voted no on banning human cloning.
His NARAL rating is 36%. Thus we are seeing a moderate Democrat on the issue of abortion.
He is a typical Democrat on most issues and will offer many chances for criticism.
Biden will be announced officially at a 3:00 p.m. est rally tomorrow. I’m tired and will have more as time permits.
See Also:
Hot Air, Shy Speak, Michelle Malkin, The American Pundit, Flopping Aces
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