Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Sunday, August 24, 2008

SENATOR JOSEPH BIDEN

If anyone is curious why Biden is the choice, Amy Sullivan of TIME points us to a 2005 interview with Biden in Kentucky that interested her because he delivered this gem of a quote about politics and religion.



"If I'm the nominee, Republicans will be sorry. The next Republican that tells me I'm not religious I'm going to shove my rosary beads down their throat."



It is a brilliant quote all on it's own and shows the feisty spirit and quick wit that is Joe Biden and why he will make such a formidable running mate for Obama. But if you read the rest of the article, you will see exactly how closely Biden's views are echoed in Obama's and key clues as to why Obama was inclined to pick him.


1. Uniting the country/50 state strategy: "We've got to be competitive in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Colorado, Florida. If we can't be competitive in all those states, we can't unite this country."


2. Social issues: "And we have played into the hands of the Republicans. We've allowed so-called social issues to be so divisive."


3. Pragmatic and competent governance: "I think it becomes a question in the voters' minds of competence and management, and we have to show we can do it better."



While everyone is certainly focused on the differences between the candidates, those differences are actually only cosmetic and stylistic: Honolulu v. Scranton, young and black v. white and old, reflective and inspiring v. confrontational and entertaining, 3 years of Washington experience v. 3 decades. But the more you really find out about the two men and what they believe, the reality is that they are two peas of the same pod, both brilliant and both share a common vision for the direction of this country, whether it is in domestic or foreign policy. When Obama says of Biden, "He gets it", it is increasingly clear that Obama means what he says. Joe Biden is right, Republicans will be sorry, because it looks like Obama picked the right man for the job.


Source: http://www.jedreport.com/2008/08/republicans-wil.html

2 comments:

Patrick M said...

I'm going to shove my rosary beads down their throat.

LOL. I'm going to have to steal that one.

Anonymous said...

That is an awesome quote Patrick, good find their Shaw. Watching the Obama and Biden speech on Saturday, I have to agree that the one thing I did notice was how similar their stories were in regards to overcoming adversity. Biden may be a bit of the old but he has plent of new about him.