Notes from Biden, including a little slip of the tongue
Sen. Joe Biden offered a good example today of the difficulty of a national presidential campaign. Candidates are rushed from site to site (Biden left Columbia for St. Louis), often hitting more than one state per day. And while mostly sticking to their stump speeches, they try to recognize local politicians and sprinkle their speeches with local references.
Biden slipped a bit during the introductions, through no fault of his own. In introducing local elected officials, from Ninth District Congressional candidate Judy Baker to former Gov. Roger Wilson, Biden tried to give a special recognition to Sen. Chuck Graham of Columbia.
“Chuck, stand up, let the people see you,” Biden says. He was a bit chagrined when he realized that Graham uses a wheelchair. He recovered quickly and told the crowd to “stand up for Chuck.” The crowd responded with a standing cheer for Graham.
Other notes from Biden’s speech in Columbia:
*The prayer before the festivities was offered by Pastor John Baker of First Baptist Church in Columbia, and it was full of political themes. Baker prayed for health care for all and a sustainable environment. The locals weren’t shocked at the political nature of the prayer. Baker is the husband of Judy Baker, the state rep who is running for Congress.
*Judy Baker served as the first speaker to warm up the crowd and get them “fired up” for Biden. (The “fired up” cheer sort of fizzled, as did “yes we can”. After the organized cheers died down, a solitary voice echoed the feeling of the crowd with three words: “We want Joe.”) Baker clearly got the “change” memo, using change in most sentences, sometimes more than once.
*Boone County in play? An Obama field representative urged the crowd to get their friends registered to vote. She said the county voted for George Bush in the last presidential election by a margin of 158 votes over John Kerry.
*Biden made sure to mention the 6th-ranked Missouri Tigers football team, though he also asked that nobody make fun of his school’s mascot, the Delaware Blue Hens. He also made sure to mention the Chrysler plant layoffs in Fenton and the Anheuser-Busch takeover by InBev. The last reference was one to “anxiety” in the American populous, wondering what might happen next.
*It wouldn’t be a political visit in Columbia without somebody asking about “peace.” A woman in the crowd asked Biden if he’d have the courage to talk seriously about creating a “department of peace.” Biden dodged by discussing his support for the Institute of Peace, a Congressional funded institute based in Hawaii. The question about peace was rooted in a fear about growing violence in America, as well as foreign policy. Biden responded that the way to reduce violence in America is to better educate our children. In one of his strongest moments, he walked among the crowd talking about how too many young children show up at school with a vocabulary deficit. He talked about his wife, a teacher. And he turned it into a finger-pointing argument to better fund early childhood education. It took him awhile to get to that, but he worked the crowd well and built up enthusiasm from a question that was a bit off-center.
Obama and Biden are serial liars… how about reporting THAT!
Sorry - that was just in response to the other post - just showing how this can go both ways…
Anyway the big story today isn’t this… it’s the lipstick on a pig story. Obama will not live this line down…
As long as we have the Republicans, there is always hope for a good war. Just remember, for McCain, a 100 years is not to long. After all, look what it did for Europe. Besides, they won’t pay for it, they’ll just have the Chineese and Arabs pay for it.
Oh, I forgot, they’re borrowing the money which means we will eventually have to pay it back. Another example of Republican fisical responsibility.
Sort of reminds me of my favorite number, $6,000,000,000,000 (that’s trillion for the pubs) plus or minus a few billion. George likes it too. He must because that’s what he’s leaving us as his legacy. It may not be a “bridge to nowhere”, but at least he’s not trying to lie about it like Sarah.
Are Obama and Biden serial plagiarists? Hello….they are politicians…
Biden and Obama are great people, and with make great leaders.
nuff said.
How closely did the Obama team vet Biden before he was picked for VP? Did they not check out Biden’s admitted plagiarism? Did they not check out Biden’s penchant for saying stupid things on the stump? This gaffe has got to make Obama wish he picked Hillary instead. McCain did a much better job in picking Palin. McCain will win Missouri by at least 5.
I have reviewed this video of the comments by Senator Biden, as recorded by KRCG, our CBS-TV affiliate in Jefferson City and Columbia. It is much easier to hear than the video linked by Mr. Messenger, and it offers additional insight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRV5Y1JCGRI
Here is what Senator Biden said, according to this clip:
“Stand up, Chuck, let ‘em see you. Oh - God love you, what am I talking about? I tell you what – you are making everybody else stand up though, pal. Thank you very, very much. I tell you what – stand up for Chuck!”
Then Senator Biden stepped down from the stage to shake Senator Graham’s hand. Biden said: “Thank you, pal. You can tell I’m new. Good to see you, buddy. Thank you. Thank you.”
I think Senator Biden stepped in it, but immediately realized his error and accepted responsibility by stepping forward to shake Senator Graham’s hand, summoning the audience to stand up and applaud for Senator Graham, and acknowledging directly to Senator Graham, and into the microphone, “You can tell I’m new.”
To me, he seemed much more concerned about Senator Graham’s feelings. I think Senator Biden is REAL. This is fast work on his feet. I think most people who had just uttered such a gaffe would have absolutely fainted with mortification; I know I would have. I admire Senator Biden even more for his obviously sincere comments and his quick and effective recovery.
Once again, the Democrats are well on their way to self-destruction. Was there ever any doubt? Barry, put away the koran, if there’s any swearing in in January, it won’t be you.
STEM
Once again, the Democrats are well on their way to self-destruction. Was there ever any doubt? Barry, put away the koran, if there is any swearing in in January, it will not be you.
STEM