Isn't Biden sort of jumping the gun?

[election_2004]

I didn't watch his announcement this morning, but did Biden formally declare his candidacy, or did he simply announce that he intends to run in 2008?

Don't serious presidential candidates usually wait until after the midterms, and then form an official exploratory first, BEFORE actually announcing that they're running?

This makes me wonder if Biden is actually a serious candidate? Or if he's just doing this as some publicity stunt, or for some other strange reason that isn't apparent quite yet?

I mean, there are important U.S. Senate races to be won in PA, MT, MO, and MN in 2006 (Bob Casey, Jon Tester/Mike McGrath, Robin Carnahan, Patty Wetterling/Amy Klobuchar, respectively).

If Biden wants to travel the country and gauge support for a possible candidacy, that's his prerogative...but am I the only one who thinks it's a little bit inappropriate for ANYONE to be announcing a presidential candidacy this early?

[FrenchieCat]

1. He didn't want to wait until someone else had announced....

cause he was afraid he would be accused of "copying".

But I do have to say....that man needs a really, really big headstart to generate any grassroots support!

It will take now until the Primaries for him to get but a few folks.

I don't even understand his claim to fame. What is it, exactly? Those Plugs?

He's almost silly, IYAM!

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. "he was afraid he would be accused of copying" LOL

Frenchie, that was priceless.

[On Par]

28. Maybe You'd Like To Retract That?????

Hell, I know I copied more than this in college.

Here are some of the passages in question:

Kinnock (original)

Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Why is Glenys the first woman in her family in a thousand generations to be able to get to university?

Was it because our predecessors were thick? Does anybody really think that they didn't get what we had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment? Of course not. It was because there was no platform upon which they could stand.

Biden

I started thinking as I was coming over here, why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university? Why is it that my wife who is sitting out there in the audience is the first in her family to ever go to college?

Is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright? . . . No, it's not because they weren't as smart. It's not because they didn't work as hard. It's because they didn't have a platform upon which to stand . . .

You's think, after listening to Bush for 5 years, your ilk would research the facts before pouncing! So foolish.

[tishaLA]

41. If you copied more than that in college,

you should have faced reprimand for plagiarism, too.

The worst part is that he plagiarized such a worthless passage. Is he really *that* derivative?

[On Par]

44. Do You Know What Plagiarism Is????

The Random House dictionary defines plagiarism as "the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." Imitation or borrowing by themselves are not plagiarism. Drawing on other people's ideas is perfectly reasonable and in fact unavoidable when you write academic essays—but you must acknowledge the borrowing.

So Biden, didn't have enough footnotes to acknowledge the borrowing. Wow! Huge sin.

And let's compare that to these....

Social Security. The Iraq disaster. The lies that led us into that war, which the Downing Street memos verify. Overreaching in the Terry Schiavo family situation, and the whole political thrust of the fundamentalists. The sluggish economy and poor jobs-growth. Oil prices. The outrageous cost of health care. And so on.

Oh wait, I closely imitated that paragraph and haven't supplied a footnote.

Somehow, I think your moral compass is more askew than mine.

[tishaLA]

46. In fact, I do

And I teach in a university where, if I caught you "borrowing" like Biden, I'd report it.

Nobody is comparing academic dishonesty to what george did, but you already know that, don't you? That, indeed, is a symbol of whose moral compass is where.

[On Par]

50. You Still Don't Get It.....

Look up from your ivy covered walls, and smell the common sense.

As I stated below....

If people can forgive Bush for failing his "flight physical" because he was using cocaine, it seems outlandish to me that you're bitching and complaining about a democrat, who failed a course for copying without using footnotes, but would do far more for you, than all the Republicans put together!

I don't know of any humans that are perfect. And until we decide who our nominated candidate is, you should not be casting stones at them, but instead be PROMOTING all of them!

And if you still haven't gotten it, my point for you and the other less forgiving, is that if you want to hate someone, save it for the Republicans.

[Mitt Chovick]

48. ROTFLMAO, afraid of copying.

:rofl: :applause: :rofl:

[longship]

3. It's a trial baloon, albeit a very overt one. n/t

.

[Southsideirish]

4. I would vote for the devil himself before I would vote for biden.

[Radical Activist]

5. It wasn't formal and it worked for Dean.

Dean actually got a lot of extra press attention and some other advantages by letting it be known he was going to run very early before others did.

[libnnc]

6. Biden's an airbag with hair plugs. n/t

[chaumont58]

7. Biden's jumping the shark

I confess I'm not real hip on the meaning of that saying. Whatever, I ain't a Biden fan. At the time he attacked Governor Dean, I thought one reason might be he thinks Dean will run for president in 2008, and he didn't want real competition. I think it more now than before.

[tritsofme]

14. Jumping the shark?

If that 58 in your name stands for your birth year you should know better.



You gotta remember Fonzie, literally jumping the shark.

[Adelante]

8. He will decide by the end of the year

Here's a video:

http://www.dembloggers.com/story/2005/6/19/102224/359

[IndianaGreen]

9. Biden will be more useful as part of King Tut's exhibit

As a candidate, Biden will only get the votes of his staffers.

[leesa]

10. Absolutely not a shred of interest in this GOP whore.

[sendero]

11. Biden...

.... when you absolutely, positively are ready to capitulate.

I almost feel sorry for this asshole - even thinking he has a shot. The base hates his guts for good reason, he's going nowhere.

[On Par]

12. Okay, That's Enough Bashing Of The Brightest Man in The Senate

Already some of you are beginning with the 'copying' BS, but forget we have a Supreme Court Justice that smoked marijauna, and a President that skipped a year or two of his Nat'l Guard duty, did cocaine, and was or is an alcoholic! Tell me, where's your moral compass?

Instead of wishing ANY Democrat well, you berate and separate us for no good reason. The Republicans just love you and hope you continue your derisive ways!

Time you did a google and see how miniscule that "copying" incident was. Then again, by your tone, I'm sure you've forgiven Nixon for Obstruction of Justice and Conspiracy, or Bush for lying about Iraq, not only for the reasons we went in, but on a daily basis while continuing to unfairly negatively characterize a democrat.

You should be ashamed of yourselves.

[killbotfactory]

13. No, Biden should be ashamed

for voting for that damnable bankruptcy "reform".

He's a fucking whore.

[On Par]

21. Ah, With The Major Credit Card Companies IN Delaware...

...at least rational people understand that vote. Tell us, how many proposals have Bush pushed through that you haven't liked?

There isn't any politician that hasn't voted against your or my wishes. On a larger scale, Biden knows how to "compromise." That's what we're missing. And who is to say, as President, he wouldn't back a modification in the bankruptcy law? This is not a "Do as I say, or else" world as Bush/Cheney thinks it is. Biden understands that.

Don't be so narrow minded. Time to open your thinking to the world of politics.

[woodleydem]

17. Amen Brother!!

Liberal democrats are the biggest DINO's, so ready to jump ship if something doesn't go their way. Give the man a chance! He has dutifully served six terms in the Senate for the party, and has been one of the only Democrats to present a rational and clear critique for the Iraq War. (a critique which has been very critical of Bush, btw) And his foreign policy knowledge isn't all heated, fluffy rhetoric; it's based on visiting Iraq several times within the last year and speaking to the generals on the ground. I also like his personality: blunt, passionate, and he can be very disarming at times. If the last few Presidential elections have taught us something, it should be this: a personality can compensate for a lot of personal weaknesses. If Kerry actually had a personality, he would be President right now and this conversation would be moot.

[Atman]

34. Bullshit. He "critiques" everything, but never backs it with his vote

He give lots of face time to the cameras so he can get a big library of "hard hitting" clips to use in his campaign commercials. But he votes with Bush and GOP nearly every chance he gets. In fact, it seems the more important the vote to the American people -- the "real" ones, the middle-Americans, not the top 1% -- the more likely Biden is to vote GOP. He is a disgrace to the ideals of the democratic party.

[FrenchieCat]

38. You mean

Biden talks the talk, but doesn't walk the walk?

[ClarkUSA]

40. Welcome to DU - your BidenForAmerica.com signature is noted

:eyes:

[Atman]

43. Was this a Freudian slip?

(Biden) has been one of the only Democrats to present a rational and clear critique for the Iraq War.

...as opposed to a clear critique of the war? Or perhaps even *gasp!*against the war?

Biden may have spoken out, sure, but what has he done for America lately? Fattened up MNBA? Hardly patriotic, in my book. Voted for Condi? Damned near treasonous! The man has no business calling himself a democrat anymore. But, I guess Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller have lowered the bar so much, what the hell. But that hardly makes him presidential material. Of course, after W, Dan Quayle would look presidential. Which is ironic, 'cuz I'm pretty sure Poppy was planning on Quayle to be the successor puppet figurehead president, before Clinton ruined everything and forced him to go with a second-string idiot like dim son.

But I digress. Biden sucks.

[On Par]

23. For All You Nay-Sayers..... Read The Transcript.

...and get a clue. Once at the site, It's a PDF document.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/19/ftn/main702870.shtml

You're Welcome.

[enough already]

24. Ok, let's review....

He flunked a law school course for copying 5 pages without attribution. He almost verbatim copied speeches by British and American politicians. He's recently attacked our party chairman, an attack which, to his credit, apparently he composed himself. If this makes him "The Brightest Man in the Senate", we're in deep shit.

[On Par]

26. You Omitted More Facts Than Biden Did !

Should we accuse you of bias reporting?

Biden's major sin in college, he's now 62, that he didn't provide enough "footnotes" to five pages of text. As he said then, he'd been "unaware of the appropriate standards for legal briefs." Worst case scenario, he failed the course. Would you care to compare that to this President who is the only one to have a criminal DUI record?

And BTW, oratory has a long tradition of borrowing and even "heavy lifting," as speech writers call it. Maybe that's why you haven't condemned John Kennedy for borrowing phrases of his inaugural speech from Cicero? Or maybe you just didn't know, or maybe you just wanted to dump on Biden?

As for attacks on Howard Dean, obviously you just don't get it. Biden, Reid, Pelosi, and others are just loving what Dean is doing, because they "CAN'T!" Here, let me clue you in. How often did Bush say that Kerry served honorably while the SwiftBoaters were dissecting Kerry's record?

The Swifties weren't running for any office, Bush was. Now do you get it?

Get back to us when you have something besides ridicule and weak accusations for a democrat.

[enough already]

29. Why the insistence on comparing Dean's sins to Bush's?

My shoe is more honest than Bush, so comparing Biden to that piece of crap doesn't impress me one bit.

Look, you want to make excuses for Biden's plagerism and attacks on Howard Dean, be my guest. Keep calling everyone who doesn't see things through your Biden-colored glasses a "freeper". We can and will do a hell of a lot better than gop-lite Biden.

[On Par]

30. You Still Don't Get It.....

First, no one, especially me, are making excuses. Please, if I did, show me where? All I did was present the facts and give you examples.

If people can forgive Bush for failing his "flight physical" because he was using cocaine, it seems outlandish to me that you're bitching and complaining about a democrat, who failed a course for copying without using footnotes, but would do far more for you, than all the Republicans put together!

I don't know of any humans that are perfect. And until we decide who our nominated candidate is, you should not be casting stones at them, but instead be PROMOTING all of them!

And if you still haven't gotten it, my point for you and the other Neanderthals is that if you want to hate someone, save it for the Republicans.

Sheesh!

[karynnj]

47. And the swifties were not head of the RNC

In defense of Dean, I am horrified that your analogy makes him the Democratic counterpart to the SBVT. He is not spewing lies - unless by dissecting Kerry's record, you are inaccurately implying that they were exposing problems that were really there. (In which case - you are a Republican!)

[Cha]

36. We don't need scoldings

from you!

Biden SUCKS ELEPHANTS EGGS!

[tritsofme]

15. Will he write his own speeches?

This time?

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tritsofme]

31. By golly you've found me out.

Me und Mr. Kinnock done are freepers.

[enough already]

27. Only when attacking Howard Dean (n/t)

[hemp_not_war]

16. When's Biden's war crimes tribunal start?

he won't get to be president, but should get a cell in the hague for his part in the Invasion of Iraq

[On Par]

22. You Can't Make Wild Accusations Without ...

..backing them up with fact! You should try that sometime.

[bklyncowgirl]

18. He's borrowing some of Lieberman's Joementum

Waiting to see if Democrats start falling all over themselves to support him.

[On Par]

20. If I Lived In Chicago....

I'd vote for Biden, Twice!

[Cha]

37. What the fuck

does "Chicago" have to do with it?

[On Par]

45. LMAO! Obviously, You Don't Recall The Daly Years...

...when the motto of Cook County (Chicago) was "Vote early and often."

[nickinSTL]

25. uh, Robin Carnahan?

Is she running for Talent's seat?

That'd be weird, since she just won the Secretary of State race last year.

Not that we don't need to get rid of Talent, but I hadn't heard anything about Carnahan.

[election_2004]

33. Well....

Bob Casey just got elected as State Treasurer in Pennsylvania, and he's already running against Santorum.

[CityDem]

32. Send all campaign contributions to www. gunjumper.com

Or www.joebidenhasbadplugs.com.

[FrenchieCat]

39. Oh My!

:rofl:

You mean Joe "I didn't serve but could have cause I was old enough, but now I'm an expert at national security cause I said so" Biden?

[Eloriel]

35. I think he's out of his freakin' MIND n/t

[Tinoire]

42. Oh lol. Biden must really love a good joke!

No. way. in. hell.

No neo-liberals. No DLC-ers. No supporters of either war or occupation.

That's 3 strikes. He's out COLD. Signing PNAC letters is the dirt over his nailed-shut coffin.

[AX10]

49. I hope not.

:scared: