"Biden" His Time Until He Departs

Based on this column, it appears that the AP’s Matt Stearns has no idea as to why Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware “has no traction” among the contenders in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary.

As Stearns tells us (with subtle digs aimed at Dems in general, by the way)…

Of the 2008 presidential campaign’s storylines, that of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., is among the strangest: Eminent senator, 34 years service, respected chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee during an era of international tumult. Retail politician of rare skill, with a bedazzling smile, a golden tongue and frequent hands-on touches of voters, as if to draw life-force from them. A compelling personal story of early success, horrific personal loss, professional humiliation and ultimate recovery. Even a new book, “Promises to Keep,” inching this week onto the New York Times best-seller list.

…

This even as the election turns on Biden’s specialty, national security.

And leave it to Biden to come up with the wrong answer as to why he’s trailing (well, it’s partly right, I’ll admit).

Biden says his chief problem is voters know him only from Sunday talk-fests.

No. Biden’s chief problem is that the netroots thinks he’s a joke (but of course, leave it to Stearns to totally ignore that also).

And that’s not just because we’re mean, it’s because Biden’s voting record on the big issues is pretty bad, nice man that I’ll admit he is, as well as knowledgeable on foreign policy, for the most part.

Here is perhaps Joe’s most ignominious moment, and that is his vote in favor of the fraud bankruptcy bill. Also (as noted here), he voted to confirm Michael Hayden as CIA director because he thought he was “a nice guy,” even though Hayden, in true Bushco form, supported the gutting of FISA (to be fair to Biden, though, he did the right thing in the most recent episode of cowardice by the Democratic congress).

Biden also sponsored a bill to prohibit satellite recording here with Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, and he voted against two amendments requiring Iraq troop withdrawal (noted previously, preferring to take “one last shot” here instead).

I would also like to hear an explanation for Biden’s support of the 1996 “partial birth” abortion ban passed by Congress that Bill Clinton had the infinite good sense to veto back then.

There, Joe (and Stearns); are you starting to understand now why you’re not likely to move from your current 5 percent “perch” among the Democratic field?

This also gave me a chuckle in Stearns’ column…

The other half of the Biden-has-a-chance equation involves the weaknesses of the front-runners. Clinton’s negatives already veer into the mid-40s, before the attacks really begin. Obama’s inexperience unsettles some. And neither seems well-positioned for the red states, where Biden says he can compete because he speaks the language of white middle-class males: “It’s who I am.”

Uh, didn’t you forget somebody, Stearns? You know, the guy leading at 30 percent among likely Democratic voters in Iowa?

Oh, sorry, I forgot – the media doesn’t like John Edwards (that's a shame, because he sure as hell knows how to give a speech).

And speaking of Democratic presidential front runners, I think Sen. Clinton would do well to forget about trying to divine the mood of this country in the event of another unspeakable occurrence. Does she honestly think she’s going to win over any hard-core Rethugs with a little reverse psychology?