Why does Joe Biden have no chance?

[cleveramerican]

he smart and a good speaker, he has foreign policy experience, He blunt and no-nonsense.


The Neil Kinnock thing was when? 84? why can't we get over that? All thing considered lifting a few lines from a speaker who you admire seems a pretty small sin.



He is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Democratic Party, just can't get no respect.

[BeachBuckeye]

1. Because he has the biggest, most obnoxious mouth in D.C.

I've never met anyone more full of himself. In a meeting three years ago this week he got nose to nose with me and said: "I GUARANTEE you this war will be over by April". He shoots off his mouth without having a clue as to what is going on. Yes, he is a smart guy but if the nation gets to know him well he will have no chance whatsoever of getting the nomination.

[EST]

2. Biden is smart, eloquent , experienced, etc.

He should be an excellent choice for president and he has a wonderful, inspiring story. However, when he talks you are sure where he stands and he seems really predictable, a friend to the end.
Then push comes to shove and he does something counter to the image he seemed to be so interested in building and he shows a chickenshit streak that just drops the bottom out of any trust you chose to place in him.

The bullshit about unattributed plagiarized comments he made in 1988 has been de-bunked, if one takes the time and opportunity to check. That turned out to be another republican smear, the fault of the "pundit" that was supposedly quoting him. _So that's not the problem.
He is just too blatantly self centered and untrustworthy.

[Old and In the Way]

3. He's the consummate politician.

Joe's #1 priority seems to be getting himself booked on the Sunday talk shows. Where was he on the issues when Democrats were in the minority?

[kstewart33]

4. I've liked Biden for a long time.

Besides being a very smart and no-nonsense guy on foreign policy, he did one thing that sealed the deal for me. For the last 2-3 years or so, he has given Bush a chance to get Iraq right. Rather than castigate him at every turn, he gave Bush a chance and was measured in his words. As things worsened, Biden started suggesting ideas, concrete ways to get it right. They were smart and considered ideas and not delivered in a partisan tone.

He's made his share of mistakes, but Biden gets my respect for doing that.

[RC]

5. Iraq was wrong from the git-go.

If I could figure it out before the invasion/occupation, why couldn't smarter people that should have been in the know? Any politician that voted for the war has lost a measure of respect from me, no matter the reason. A little too clueless of reality, you know what I mean?

[Clark2008]

6. In the general election?

Because he's from up North.

I know, I know, it's silly, but when you consider every Dem president in the past 30 years has been from the South, you have to consider that.

[acmavm]

7. Biden's an ass. Go back and watch his nastiness and mysoginy during

the Anita Hill hearings. And then research his ties to the credit card companies and the legislation that he pushed through for them.

And then find a candidate with an ounce of concern for the American people, not his corporate benefactors. He's one of the democratic party's more obvious corporate whores.

[zulchzulu]

8. There's a lot of dirt on him in Delaware

I have good friends there and they have even had Biden over to the house for parties and such. I've gotten the skinny that there are a number of stories where he's taken gifts from the insurance and credit card industry folks (many credit cards are from Wilmington, DE) there as well as some stories where he is one arrogant SOB who expects not to pay for things because he's a Senator.

You can bet that if he is ever in any serious contention, these stories would come out and destroy his candidacy in a matter of weeks....or less.

[beaconess]

9. Three words: Justice Clarence Thomas

And, besides, he talk too damned much.

[karynnj]

10. Watch even one of the SFRC Iraq hearings over the next couple of weeks

How can I say that you will see him problem based on something that has not happened? The reason is that he has consisitantly been arrogant and obnoxious.

In 2005 and 2006, Senator Lugar ran the committee with grace and fairness - except for a strange Bolton hearing before they voted the first time. He let Senators, on either side, go over if they were in the midst of productive questioning - usually thanking them after they finished explaining that was why he let them continue.

On the days when experts spoke of Iraq's history, culture, and gave their views on what was happening - Biden's prewritten questions ignored everything they spoke of and addressed his own position. When the policy behind the escalation is insane - having Americans who don't know the language go out with Iraqis and go door to door looking for terrorists, not listening to others detailing the danger is not good.

Biden has spent on enormous amount of time pontificating and speaking about himself. He tried to cut Senators Obama and Kerry off in the middle of questions. (In Kerry's case he was trying to pin Rice down by insisting that she answer a question.) His nastiness towards the Republicans on the committee contrasts poorly with Lugar's gracefulness.

I am certain that he was one of the people that Senator Kerry was trying to reach last week when he spoke so personally and from the heart about the need to have a reality gut check on what they are doing. Biden is more about scoring political points.

My favorite for 2008 is not running. I would have liked having an alternative with strength in foreign policy among other qualities. If Gore and Clark don't run, Biden and Dodd are the ones I can see with this. Dodd has impressed me with his wonderful speech against the torture bill, his actions in those same SFRC meetings, and his overall record. (HAVA being the one negative.) I doubt he will get enough money though. Kerry likely was the best chance of an experienced foreign policy Anti-Hillary. It is clear that Hillary et all are eliminating competition before people even get to see the options. I am happy to hear that the Kerry money people (9/10ths of whom were still with Kerry) seem to have gone to Obama. He maybe the only way to stop Hillary.


(I cannot support the Clintons again ever. I am firmly convinced that if BC had told his minions - like Carville and Begala - to support Kerry 100%, we would not have had this second Bush term. What ever flaws Kerry had, he worked his heart out in 2004. I am shocked that their is no outrage over stories that Clinton people in the campaign seemed to have dragged their feet. We needed to win. People like me defended Clinton through all the sleaze - I had far more I had to clos my eyes to in doing so that these jerks did.)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Because he's a gasbag who'd trample his grandmother to get TV time.

Not to mention that he is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MBNA. Yes, he's smart and articulate, but he is also madly in love with the sound of his own vice. And he'll make a great, impassioned speech at some public hearing (as long as TV cameras are present), then go back and vote for some corporate handout anyway.

[mcscajun]

12. He sold us out big time on the bankruptcy bill, and I for one will never forget it.

I even wrote him at the time and told him I would not forget when this time came.

As to the bankruptcy bill; true, he wasn't the only one who sold us out, but he was out in front on it, and he's been in the pockets of MBNA and the other big banks in Wilmington for so long that he can't see outside of their influence.

[skipos]

13. In addition to what others have said, he is a senator and he is from a blue state

There have been 3 people to go from the senate to the presidency since Lincoln.
If Kerry, Edwards, Gore or Lieberman were from Ohio or Florida, they'd be in the Whitehouse right now. Hopefully we can have more candidates who can undeniably flip their red homestate. We need all the electoral votes we can get.

[cleveramerican]

14. too bad John Edwards couldn't deliver his home state for Kerry

[skipos]

15. VP candidates usually get @ 5% boost in their homestate

P candidates usually get @ 10% boost. I don't think Edwards could win NC even as a P candidate, as it is pretty damn red, and he isn't insanely popular there. Edwards won with 52% of the vote in 1998, but presidential races tend to be much more partisan.

Richardson would easily win NM, as he just had the biggest re-election success in NM history.
Vilsack would win Iowa.
Clark in AR, I dunno. AR isn't that red, so it depends on how well they know him despite the fact that he has never held political office there. I think he would flip it.
I dunno about Hillary in AR too.

Romney wouldn't win MA, as his numbers there are shit now.
I don't know about Guiliani in NY, as NY is so blue.

[saberjet22]

16. biden-no chance

it's his hair...it's just too silly...can't take the man seriously.
you've got to realize it, the unwashed masses go by the significance of such things. bush, admit it or not, had that swagger, that tight-lipped marlboro man, steely eyed look, that won him his votes, i'm telling you the secret truth. not many among the unwashed knew his head was as empty as a year-old gourd. biden doesn't have IT. gore didn't have IT, but may have acquired some over the last few years. Edwards, mmmm, I don't know. He may be to cleancut, needs a touch of Cheney, but only a trace.this is very scientific and delicate. right now bush not only doesn't have it, he's on the extreme negative side of ITness. he could make a cess pool seem fresh and clean just by standing in it, which is where he belongs. Sorry i can't divulge my methods, but no alcoholic liquids were imbibed and no animals were hurt.good night.

[Strawman]

17. honestly, because he looks like a Gordon Gekko wannabe

and just kind of gives off a general assholy self-important windbag vibe.

[loyalsister]

18. misogynistic, too

perfect white man to preserve the good ol boy club of the U.S. government.
Voted to override CLinton's veto of the PBA ban.
He will never get the women's vote.

[FrenchieCat]

19. He could have a chance.....

If Biden said this in September of 2002...cause whomever said it is who I'm supporting.

"The war is unpredictable and could be difficult and costly. And what is at risk in the aftermath is an open-ended American ground commitment in Iraq and an even deeper sense of humiliation in the Arab world, which could intensify our problems in the region and elsewhere."

"we're going to have chaos in that region. We may not get control of all the weapons of mass destruction, technicians, plans, capabilities; in fact, what may happen is that we'll remove a repressive regime and have it replaced with a fundamentalist regime which contributes to the strategic problem rather than helping to solve it."
What we should have done--

"Then we're dealing with the longer mid term, the mid term problems. Will Iraq be able to establish a government that holds it together or will it fragment? There are strong factionary forces at work in Iraq and they will continue to be exacerbated by regional tensions in the area. The Shia in the south will be pulled by the Iranians.

The Kurds want their own organization. The Kurds will be hemmed in by the Turks. The Iraqis also, the Iranians also are nervous of the Kurds. But nevertheless, the Kurds have a certain mass and momentum that they've built up. They will have to work to establish their participation in the government or their own identity."

"We've encouraged Saddam Hussein and supported him as he attacked against Iran in an effort to prevent Iranian destabilization of the Gulf. That came back and bit us when Saddam Hussein then moved against Kuwait. We encouraged the Saudis and the Pakistanis to work with the Afghans and build an army of God, the mujahaddin, to oppose the Soviets in Afghanistan. Now we have released tens of thousands of these Holy warriors, some of whom have turned against us and formed Al Qaida.

My French friends constantly remind me that these are problems that we had a hand in creating. So when it comes to creating another strategy, which is built around the intrusion into the region by U.S. forces, all the warning signs should be flashing. There are unintended consequences when force is used. Use it as a last resort. Use it multilaterally if you can. Use it unilaterally only if you must."
http://www.rapidfire-silverbullets.com/iraq_20022003/

Well, Looks like Biden wasn't the one to say it....

So I guess this is your answer; He ain't smart enough, that's why.

[SaveElmer]

20. Because DU says so...

He has a chance...it will be harder for him to get the media coverage with Clinton, Obama, and Edwards in the race...

But as you say he is a good speaker, a good debater, and has a good sense of humor...