JOE BIDEN?
Woof. My heart kind of caved in today and I got all squishy and cold inside...I think we're going to lose.
I can't understand this choice at all. Biden...the plagiarist? The guy who's introduction to the national scene was cribbing a speach, word-for-word, from a British Labour leader, in which he appeared to steal the other man's life story? THAT Joe Biden? That was Obama's big secret? Holy Crap...I think I want my money back.
(Of course, he's got a cover: all the OTHER times, he attributed the quote...but just that one time...oh, yeah, and the time in law school...well, he didn't know the rules about citing sources...and then....)
Biden has made some great speeches through the years, has held the line against Bush in the Senate, to be sure, but, at the end of the day, when I hear him speak, I just wonder who's words he's using. I can't help it. And I'm a LOYAL Democrat. Imagine what the Republicans are going to do to him.
As of yet, the plagiarisms thing hasn't started, it still seems to be all roses in the national press....but you can bet your butt the Republican attack animals are going to have a field day with this.
And, while Joe Sixpack may not be very concerned about the ins- and- outs of a little law school borrowing...at the end of the day, I fear it will be "all too easy" for the Republicans to use the dark-side on this guy.
After all, Biden was not forced out of the 1988 race by Dark Lord Lee Atwater- hell, no, the Ghouls never even got a crack at him....No Sir, Biden was taken out by the vicious attack chihuahuas of Micheal Dukakis! That's kinda like loosing a fight with a pillow.
I hope I'm wrong....but it sure was a tough read over the morning coffee this morning. You see, I really wanted to win this one, and I think Obama would make a Damn Good President. But it feels an awful lot like the guy just shot himself in the foot to me.
I'm going to check some other bloggers now....maybe I've missed something (hear me hoping?)- Maybe someone has a better angle on it all....
Oh, I hope I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong........
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3 comments:
ALEX!!!! Come on! Don't lose heart - we are going to WIN! But not with an attitude like that. Let's hope that's the only skeleton in Biden's closet, but I think it's one we can overcome. We all make mistakes. Perhaps you are casting stones unfairly. If that's all they've got, then it will be a hard battle to win.
Earthnut-
Yes I know...but the partisan in me and the historian in me are completely at odds over this one.
As I said, I hope I'm wrong, but I'm really afraid that Obama has erred on this.
It's a matter of trust- America is going to instinctively trust John Wayne...whoops, I mean John McCain...it's only Bush's dismal record that makes this race even possible.
Support for Obama and the Democrats is Tea-spoon deep . In order to win, Obama needed to find ways to reach across the Red State, Blue State divide and convince a small margin of "red" voters that he was the guy.
I think this was going to be a hell of a fight for Obama- so easily cast by McCain as "the other" of our secret fears (name a nightmare: he's unpatriotic liberal, a black Muslim, or just black, and a lot of people are aching to buy in.) I supported Obama in spite of this because he is just so damned amazing and genuine that I felt it worth the risk.
But now, by choosing Biden (in bed with the big credit card companies, a man with shadows of plagiarism hanging over his head going back to his days as a student)- I fear that Obama has tarnished the one thing he had going for him...that genuine quality.
I think that, in Biden, Joe Sixpack (and that's the voter we have to convince to move the column over to Obama's side)is only going to see a rich, east coast Liberal Elite who talks a great game, but who, when the chips are down, is just as snaky as any big business Republican...
Again, I hope I'm wrong...every time I've started to loose faith in Obama before, he's done a good job of turning things around...but I'm still clenching my teeth and waiting for the impact.
Alex, come on, really?! This is what you are worried about with regard to the Obama election, Joe Biden's former speeches?
Although I have to say that perhaps Obama could have picked a better vice President, Biden does have foreign policy experience which is ultimately why I think that Obama gave him the job. He may have ripped off speeches, a lot of people do. Even Churchill (who I know that you like) ripped off a lot of Elizabeth I's famous speech prior to victory over the Spanish Armada. In the end it didn't matter so much at the polls.
Of course there are differences, Chruchill was a war time prime minister, Obama is a war time President but the nature of war has changed. I think that criticising the Republicans (and their longer list of faults) and fighting for the votes of Independents is a better strategy for Obama to win. It's not only Red voters that are stubborn, some people are staunchly Democratic. I'm the very definition of a "swing voter" living in the UK as the big parties have to really fight it out for my vote, because ultimately they know it is how to win.
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