Hope is Not a Foreign Policy » Vice President

Governor Palin’s Remarks

Tom Skypek — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:08:28 +0000

Could Barack Pick Anyone Worse?

Will Riemer — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:06:34 +0000

OK, he could have picked Dennis Kucinich, but all jokes aside…

Joe Biden, consummate Washington insider, has been deemed worthy by The One to join his campaign for change. Could The Messiah have picked anyone worse for the job?

Obama & Biden

Biden is a walking time bomb, dropping gems like this as recently as 2006:

I’ve had a great relationship [with Indian Americans],” Biden said. “In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking.

Then there’s Neil Kinnock. Most political junkies know this story, but the quick rundown is that Joe Biden plagiarized several speeches from British MP Neil Kinnock just when he was gaining serious traction during his 1988 run for the White House. Classy move. This lead to a media hunt down which also turned up several more passages of suspected plagiarism. The accusations were hot enough to force Biden out of the race in 88. These stories will now resurface, putting bumps in the road for the rollout strategy of the Obama/Biden ticket.

Then we come to Obama’s overarching message of change. How the hell does Joe Biden represent change? Biden has been in Washington since 1972 – making him part of the DC establishment for close to four decades.

Personality issues aside, let’s take a look at Biden on the political issues:

Voted against gay marriage
Rated F by the National Rifle Association
Voted to reauthorize the PATRIOT Act
Voted for No Child Left Behind
Voted for the Iraq War (now says it was a mistake)
Voted NO on flag burning amendment twice (1995 & 2006)
Voted NO on requiring photo ID to vote in federal elections

These positions are all over the map – he manages to offend just about every group that already supports Obama or that Obama is looking to gain support from. And then there’s the recent statements, as seen in the post below this one, where Biden thinks Obama is not ready to be President and that the country would be better off with John McCain.

Barack, what were you thinking?!

Change You Can Believe In: Sen. Joe Biden?

Tom Skypek — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:20:46 +0000

Sen. Joe Biden has been tapped as Sen. Barack Obama’s running mate. Biden has been in Washington since 1972 when he was first elected to the United States Senate. He is a smart guy but a rather loquacious fellow, which has gotten him in trouble several times. Clearly, the Obama campaign felt the need to offset Sen. Obama’s gross lack of experience on national security and believed that Sen. Biden would do just that. Sen. Biden is currently the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

However, this pick is a sign of desperation for the Obama campaign, which has begun to see the writing on the wall. The reality is that Obama’s small lead in public opinion polls has completely evaporated. First, Biden is a life-long senator and has no executive experience. Second, it will be difficult to advance the “change message,” which Obama has built his entire campaign on. Biden has been in the Senate longer than John McCain. Third, Biden is a loose cannon, who will most likely make several verbals gaffes during the next two months. Fourth, Biden will likely enflame supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton, who simply felt that Clinton–who received an impressive 18 million votes during the primary–should have been on the ticket. Fifth, Biden supported going to war in Iraq–obviously a substantive policy difference. Plus, Biden doesn’t even think Obama’s ready to be president and he loves John McCain (see the ad below)!

Picking a Vice President

Tom Skypek — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:07:38 +0000

Sen. Obama will pick his vice presidential running mate this week, possibly as early as tomorrow. Pundits are usually way off when it comes to predicting running mates (Dick Cheney is a contemporary example). Sen. Obama’s pick will be his second major leadership decision as the de facto nominee of the Democratic Party. His first major decision was allowing Sen. Hillary Clinton to receive a roll-call vote at the Democratic Convention next week. Some view this as a concilliatory gesture aimed at uniting a divided party. Others argue that Sen. Obama’s decision is simply a sign of weakness, that the decision to allow a roll-call vote will only pour salt on the wounds still fresh from the hotly-contested Democratic primary.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see who Sen. Obama picks. Will it be Gov. Tim Kaine from Virginia? Sen. Evan Bayh of Indian? Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia or another Democrat who has managed to stay off the media’s radar screen?