Obama Picks Joe Biden

[Schnazz]

Joe Biden will be Obama's running mate!

I'm rather surprised by this decision. Sure, Biden's outstanding with foreign policy, Obama's perceived weakness. But Biden seems the anti-Obama, he's sharp tongued, makes many gaffes, and is very much a "Washington insider."

[TopDawg14]

I was hoping that he would choose Bill Richardson or Kathleen Sebulius but I'll take Joe Biden. Biden can do the dirty work that critics say that Barack hasn't done yet. Biden is a bulldog and can hit back at McCain while Barack continues on his message of change.

While they seem like an odd couple, history says that this happened before. JFK didn't like Lyndon Johnson but picked him because LBJ helped round out JFK's youthful, inexperienced image. Ronald Reagan wasn't the best of friends with George H.W. Bush but pick him as his running mate even after Bush 41 referred to Reagan's economic plan as "voodoo economics." Clinton didn't really like Al Gore but the two came together to serve two terms.

[VIsqo]

i agree

[Schnazz]

Wow, it makes me sad, but the Mariah Carey remix thread is just as popular as this one.

Anyone watching the conventions? Michelle Obama's speach was outstanding!

[VIsqo]

Lol, I dont know why people aint that interested about politics here. This campain is going to be one of the most interesting in the last 12 years. Obama is going to do his best, and with this Biden guy here, he is more equiped than before to battle Mccain and his dirty antics. I know how Obama might be what USA needs right now, but I also Know how The freakin Racist America is going to continue giving support to the Republicans to continue doing their bad work on the administration. It is not only Bush people. Its the people surrounding him too..

[Bob]

Biden will appeal to some, as his foreign policy experience is notable, but being a Catholic myself, he pisses me off.

(Any Catholic who supports abortion is automatically excommunicated from the faith. Biden does support abortion, and cannot receive communion as long as he holds that view.)

Plus he has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth.

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,"

~Joe Biden

.....

Just watched Hillary...she really put out a great rallying speech for her base.

Edited August 27, 2008 by Bob

[bigted]

I think that it's a good choice of Obama to choose Biden, sure they went at it hard in the primaries against each other but I think they could put that to the side and make a great team

[Schnazz]

Plus he has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth.

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,"

~Joe Biden

Yea, that kind of thing makes me nervous, I can foresee him causing a lot of ripples. Although, has anyone noticed that a lot of the attacks on the Obama campaign have actually not been targeted at Obama himself? Both of the pastors that took heat. Michelle Obama's whole "proud of America for the first time" thing. The staffer that called Hillary Clinton a "monster". Maybe Biden will draw the fire away from Obama himself.

I agree with you VIsqo, this is going to be one of the most interesting campaigns in years. Not only is it historic, not only do we have two outstanding candidates, but it has the potential of "redrawing the electoral map." Hopefully shake the voters up, move us away the ridged voting lines we've had for so long.

I'm quite shocked that there isn't more interest in this forum, this forum plays into several of Obama's core constituencies, and Obama's the first serious presidential candidate from the "hip-hop generation." I would think folks here would be following this election VERY closely.

[MaxFly]

Michelle Obama's speech was amazing. Hillary Clinton's speech was also very good as was Ted Kennedy's. I'm looking forward to hearing Biden speak tonight, and of course, Bill. Should be.... um... fun.

[bigted]

Yeah I figured this forum would be all up on this election, our generation is gonna be impacted very much over what's gonna happen over these next few months, I think it's a tough and important choice to make, btw check out this article on the history that was made last night, it was incredible:

http://www.newsone.com/article/history

History!

By News One Staff on August 28, 06:43 AM

On a historic night for America, Barack Obama secured the Democratic Party's nomination for president and emerged for the first time on stage in Denver with running mate Sen. Joe Biden. Obama on Wednesday officially became the first African American to lead a major party ticket.

Delegates cried and cheered as former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton motioned to cut the roll call vote short, saying "Let's declare together with one voice right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president."

The dramatic move was carefully choreographed to put down any fears of a divided party following the protracted primary battle.

The Democrats jumped to their feet as they made history with Obama as their leader. Outside the hall, Republican leaders also hailed the achievement.

Tonight, Obama stands before 75,000 people in a sports arena and millions watching on television Thursday to break down a historic American barrier — the first black man to claim a major political party's nomination for president of the United States, a country where many African-Americans were unable to vote just decades ago.

Obama, who has made little of his race in a so-far bruising run for the White House, will lay out a case for sweeping political change and drive home the choice voters face between his candidacy and that of Republican John McCain, senior strategist David Axelrod said on the eve the 47-year-old Illinois senator's acceptance speech.

Obama's acceptance of the Democratic nomination comes on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, in which the black civil rights leader spoke of his hopes for progress in U.S. race relations.

Given America's tortured racial history, Obama's nomination is a gamble for the Democrats in the Nov. 4 election as they work to wrest the White House from the Republicans and their candidate McCain, a veteran Arizona senator and Vietnam war hero who turns 72 on Friday.

The stakes were, of course, equally high for Obama, a relative newcomer to the national stage who rose to prominence after delivering the keynote address at the Democratic convention in 2004 and who is still in his first term in the Senate. While his speech four years ago was widely praised as inspirational, Axelrod said Obama would use his nominating address to convey a more simple message about what he would do for the country as president.

"His goal is to talk to the American people about the challenges we face and what we need to do to solve them, and the stakes of continuing to do what we are doing," Axelrod said. "I will leave it to others to decide the inspiration factor."

Former Vice President Al Gore also will speak Thursday. Adding a touch of celebrity to the convention's final night, singers Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder and will.i.am were scheduled to perform, with Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson singing the national anthem.

Obama had been campaigning in battleground states during the week before turning up on the Denver convention stage unannounced Wednesday night after running mate Joe Biden's acceptance speech. Biden used his speech to laud Obama and to tear into McCain, even as he called the latter a "friend" whose "personal courage and heroism ... still amaze me."

Delighting the crowd with his appearance, Obama praised the one-time front-runner for the Democratic nomination Hillary Rodham Clinton, and her husband former President Bill Clinton, as well as his wife for their prime time speeches in support of him this week.

"If I'm not mistaken, Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night!" he shouted. Obama's wife, Michelle, who delivered a tone-perfect address to open the convention could be seen mouthing the words "I love you" from her VIP seat in the Pepsi Center.

The long Democratic soap opera neared an end — and the Obama campaign no doubt heaved a sigh of relief — after rousing speeches on Obama's behalf by the Clintons — Hillary on Tuesday and Bill on Wednesday. They offered unabashed praise for Hillary Clinton's one-time opponent, whom they had sharply criticized during the primary contest.

While healing the Democratic Party may still prove difficult after the grueling 18-month primary, the process began effusively Tuesday night when Hillary Clinton said Obama is "my candidate, and he must be our president."

Bill Clinton echoed his wife's words the night following, noting that she had told the convention she would do everything possible to get Obama elected.

"That makes two of us," he said.

For months, the former president had made little secret of his disappointment over his wife's primary defeat. During her campaign, he faced criticism for his outbursts of anger and deprecatory comments about Obama.

But his 1993-2001 presidency is warmly remembered by Democrats as a time of peace and prosperity, and Clinton was greeted with a huge and extended ovation as he took the stage. He was interrupted frequently by applause as he praised Obama.

While there were no surprises in the convention, drama was heightened as both Obama and Hillary Clinton's names were put in for the nomination. Convention leaders were well along in a state-by-state roll call vote when the New York senator strode into the midst of her delegation as planned and stopped the process, calling for Obama's unanimous nomination "in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory."

The delegates agreed with a roar and Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives and titular head of the convention, pounded her gavel on the historic vote.

Despite having released her delegates earlier in the day, Clinton received 341 votes to Obama's 1,549 before she called for him to be approved by acclamation.

Clinton, who won nearly 18 million votes in the state primaries but could not overcome Obama's delegate total, had wanted the pro forma roll call as a cathartic moment for her huge bloc of supporters.

Tensions between the two camps were aggravated last week by Obama's decision to name Biden instead of Clinton as his vice presidential running mate. But in their speeches, both Clintons commended the choice.

Biden received the vice presidential nomination by acclamation Wednesday night, and in accepting he declared he had learned the quality of Obama's mind and character while campaigning against him in the primary.

"I watched how Barack touched people, how he inspired them, and I realized he had tapped into the oldest American belief of all: We don't have to accept a situation we cannot bear. We have the power to change it," he said.

Edited August 28, 2008 by bigted