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national newspolitics
Why Obama Made the Wrong Decision
BH StaffPosted: Aug 23rd 2008 7:21PM
Filed under: US Elections, Politics, Featured Stories, National News, Advise & Dissent, VeepstakesThe text message has been sent! Obiden '08 is the Democratic ticket! Our Bright Hall staffers weigh in on the decision. Click here for our Veepstakes archive.
Megan Baker: Biden's scathing remarks about Obama back in the good 'ol primary days are going to come back and bite Obama's campaign in the, well, you know...In fact, McCain's camp has already released an ad campaign featuring Biden saying he does not think Obama is "ready" to be president and that he would be "honored to run with or against McCain." Ouch. Biden has the foreign policy experience to help out Obama, but he is also more of the same, which will kind of hurt Obama's message of change. I still think Bayh would have been a better choice with his experience in economics, but Biden isn't too bad of a choice in the end. At least he didn't pick Hillary, right?
Joshua Sharp: Biden is a gift that keeps on giving -- for Republicans. His track record of insensitive, stupid, and counter-productive comments is well-known. More importantly, though, this pick shows that even Obama wants "Experience" over "Change." No matter who is president, the next Administration will have to fill positions in the White House, and Obama has shown he's willing to pick the ultimate "Washington insider" -- a Senator spanning four decades -- over any agent of change. Obama likes to allege that John McCain has been in Washington too long. Joe Biden has been there a decade longer.
Matt Negrin: The folly of the Biden selection lies only in who Obama passed over as his running mate. It is admirable in choosing someone from a non-battleground state, enforcing the idea that the Delaware senator's policies count more than his territory and political convenience. However, Biden's ideas are moot if the pair lose sin November, especially if states like Virginia (Kaine), Indiana (Bayh) and New Mexico (Richardson) and other western states don't vote Democrat.
I wouldn't be so concerned about Biden's previous and so-called gaffes in which he said Obama isn't ready to lead, or that he's the first clean and articulate black presidential candidate. I'd be more worried about his arrogance alienating the working-class voters Obama so badly needs.
Finally, Obama could have done worse. He could have gone with Clinton.
See also: Our colleague Sam extolls the virtues of Barack's selection of Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.
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Cecil Jones
5:56AM 5:56AM Aug 24th 2008
For something from "Bright Hall", this comment isn't very bright. The Biden selection prevents the Republican Party from using it's only strength...America's failure on 9-11. The President was reading "My Pet Goat" as we were attacked. He knew of the threat against our planes. The FBI was screaming for us to do something or say something. The Pentagon was talking about "The next Pearl Harbor." Condi Rice correctly predicted "The Funding Paradigm would change if we saw dead people." Biden prevents the selection of Rudy G. That's a victory for Democrats by taking away the only issue for Republicans. You need "Brighter" people to opine. Elizabeth Dole is McCain's VP. They will try to divide and conquer the strong emotion of women.
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Marsha
12:47PM 12:47PM Aug 24th 2008
The first, and most important decision Obama had to make as the Dem nominee, and he blew it. Big surprise? Not so much.
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ANGIE
6:13PM 6:13PM Sep 8th 2008
Just exactly what does a vice president's position entail. MCCaine picked a puppett with hopes that female voters are vain and ignorant. Vote for the candidate with the best platform to help our failing economy and move on. Anyone making a decision to voting based on a black man or a female should not vote. Were spending lots of time on personal gripes and prejudice beliefs not on cleaning up our country. Although Bill Clinton had personal issues, our economy was booming, people had jobs and we could afford milk and gasoline.
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Mike
5:25PM 5:25PM Aug 24th 2008
Barack Obama goes to great lengths to dispel misconceptions that he is a Muslim. Given the Obama campaign’s sensitivities, some critics question why Dr. Ingrid Mattson, president of The Islamic Society of North America or ISNA is being given a prominent role at the Democratic National Convention’s “interfaith gathering.” Documents show ISNA is supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical organization that calls on Muslim organizations in America to dedicate themselves to “a kind of grand Jihad” against the West.
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Anthony Pagan
9:01PM 9:01PM Aug 24th 2008
Go to Snopes.com and perhaps this will dispell your igonorance of the real facts about all the candidates.
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Anthony Pagan
9:05PM 9:05PM Aug 24th 2008
The news media is giving John Mc Cain somewhat of a free pass on all his blunders and his flip flopping. I have reasearhed both candidates at lenght. It is surprising to me that in a country of 300 million plus people and maybe 65% of them registered voters that these are the best two candidates to make it to the general election.
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ANGIE
6:53PM 6:53PM Sep 7th 2008
Why don't you run next election. Throw rocks and hide your hands!!
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Anne
1:28AM 1:28AM Aug 25th 2008
We ended up with these two Presidential candidates BECAUSE the ENTIRE NATION is so willing to move in concert with the latest negative rumor being touted by the media. VERY FEW AMERICANS GO AND RESEARCH ON THEIR OWN, ABOUT ANY CANDIDATE THEY ULTIMATELY "CHOOSE", BY A CHOICE BASED ON THE OPINIONS AND LIES OF OTHERS. EVEN OBAMA HIMSELF, DIDN'T DO RESEARCH ON HIS CHOICES FOR VP, OR HE WOULD NEVER HAVE CHOSEN A MAN WHO SAID HE WOULD BE HONORED TO RUN WITH MCCAIN, AND THAT OBAMA WAS NOT READY TO BE PRESIDENT.
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R. G Krishnamurthy
11:44AM 11:44AM Aug 25th 2008
Obama was scornful of Washington insiders all through the primary. But he chose one of those people he ridiculed. In chosing Biden he ignored women. He should have chosen Kansas governor to show that he respects women and to confirm that he is breaking from the old to the new so called "change". By his choice he looks hypocritical in his pronouncements of "change"
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tuluz
5:12PM 5:12PM Aug 25th 2008
Obama refused to ask for Michigan and FLorida delegates to count when HRC was actively campaigning against him. Now, he has convinced the DNC to seat them. Now, he wants her to ask all her delegates to vote for him after a token few states give her her vote. I can't believe he is treating her and her supporters like this. What is he afraid of? The fact that she may just have enough votes to beat his butt?
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melman
5:48PM 5:48PM Aug 25th 2008
as far as biden making "stupid and insensitive remarks", tell me that DICK cheney has never ever done that before. what about that little cutesy game bushie played pretending to look for wmds in the white house while our brave soldiers are out in iraq.
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Jbaez
7:48PM 7:48PM Aug 27th 2008
Coward- don't even want to put your name on this article. Obama is a man who has ties with people that should NEVER be invited or step into our Whitehouse. Period. Right now, a large assembly of people are gathering to nominated Arnold S from California for VP choice. If Obama who has a dual citizenship, is being sued by State Penn Attorney Berg concerning his fake birth certicate and can be the Next President of the United States- then California Arnold S has every right to run for the position in 2012. Period! We are working on it! Look at the Lawsuit against Obama- it is 99.99% true- so for the koolaid drinkers that think he is going to make it to the whitehouse under the cheating processes- think again, cowards!
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boredwell
11:23PM 11:23PM Aug 28th 2008
Biden!? His persona is that of a cool false charmer. The bespoke suits with those intrepid hankies just so in the breast pocket are costume not clothing. Biden's gleam of self-pride speaks louder than his words. The dems pick is a puzzlement. Let's just say "BYE"den.
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cruz
6:35AM 6:35AM Sep 5th 2008
Senator Biden has long been a leading
critic of Senator Obama's lack of foreign policy experience.
He's criticized Senator Obama for his lack of leadership and judgment on Iraq,
Afghanistan and his commitment to meet unconditionally with the leaders of rogue states
Senator Biden doesn't believe that Senator Obama is ready to serve as president.
When asked about Senator Obama's lack of experience he said,
"The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training. and both Clinton's said the same.
OE BIDEN SAID THAT JOHN MCCAIN was ready to be president and he would proudly run with him or against him. He was ask this by the democratic party.
hillary clintion said that only john mccain was ready to lead, not Obama.
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aelane
7:46PM 7:46PM Sep 8th 2008
The run for the presidency is a scathing process and exposes all weaknesses for the whole world to see. A candidate that actually makes it through is quite remarkably thick skinned, resilient, persistent, focused, and committed. These are qualities of leaders. Inexperience leads to mistakes, which are magnified. For me, its not that a candidate makes a mistake, its how they react to it and turn it around that impresses or disappoints.
So far, I think Obama has not been able to turn around many of his mistakes. He tries to ignore them, tries to focus on the one thing he knows best and by heart, his campaign speech. The speech never varies from city to city, state to state by very much. That tells me that I think he is afraid. He is afraid to say anything that could be twisted in an unknown way.
I am beginning to see him motivated by a fear of failure. His choice of Biden for VP keenly illustrated that he is afraid of his weaknesses. He was afaid of being weak on foreign policy, so he chose Biden. Instead of focusing on the theme for change, and using the VP slot to show he is serious about sending change to DC, he chose an insider without considering that by doing so, he lost major campaign leverage of being able to show the stark differences between his team and McCain's team--that of being an insider. I think it matters greatly. I think it speaks volumes about his inexperience. I think it is his biggest mistake.
While I understand why he did not choose Clinton, he did not strenthen his image as a reformer by choosing a Washington insider. Now, with McCain's surge of popularity with the Palin pick, it almost seems as though he is weary and somewhat defeated by the endless attacks on his religion, his past associations, his lack of experience, and now his choice of VP. Has the stress and burden of campaigning almost 19 months without stop been too much? Or maybe he is finally realizing that people need more than a catchy phrase to send someone to the White House.
Here's what I want to know: Who are you? What do you stand for? How far will you fight for what you stand for? So far, Obama 0, McCain 1.
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iynaroc02
11:51AM 11:51AM Sep 13th 2008
New York mayor, Bloomburg just handed Obama a gift today. On CNN this morning mayor Bloomburg was asked his thoughts on the issue of one presidential candidate claiming to be the one that can protect America. He responded that no one candidadte is better than the other, so McCain's claim is totally false. He said that prtection of America is not a political issue that one party can claim. I think Obama ought to put out an ad that (a) shows McCain & Sara Palin claiming that McCain would protect America more than Obama (b) shows the proper slice of the CNN reporter's question and Bloomburg's response. The they ought show an ad were McCain was asked about his vote on contraceptives for women and viagra for men for health insurance coverage based on his surrogate Carly Fiarina's interview. McCain looked just pathetic, lost for words and looked like a deer caught on a headlight before he said he couldn't remember how he voted. For the record, he voted against this women issue. It's interesting how McCain doesn't remember things that are not favorable to him, like how many houses he owned and his first wife.
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