Joe Biden meets with Bernie Sanders

[Uncle Joe]

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders met with Vice President Joe Biden at his Naval Observatory residence for an hour Thursday, discussing issues related to campaign finance reform and education, according to a statement released through the Vermont senator's campaign.

(snip)

“Under the leadership of President Obama and Vice President Biden, this country has come a long way economically since President Bush left office and we were losing 800,000 jobs every month and the world economy was on the brink of financial collapse,” Sanders said in a statement released through his campaign. “Nevertheless ... we still have a long way to go to create the kind of economy that works for all Americans and not just the top 1 percent.

(snip)

Biden previously praised Sanders, then a potential primary opponent, in September at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser in Miami.

“I am not a populist. But Bernie Sanders, he’s doing a helluva job,” Biden remarked, leaving at some donors in Miami scratching their heads.

In his Rose Garden remarks announcing that he would forgo a third campaign for the White House last Wednesday, Biden pledged to stay involved in the election. "While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent," he said.

"I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully, to influence as much as I can where we stand as a party and where we need to go as a nation," the vice president said

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/joe-biden-bernie-sanders-215369#ixzz3q0lEEVht

[WillyT]

1. Interesting... K & R !!!

[virtualobserver]

2. Hey Joe....moving is such a hassle....you enjoy living here at the Naval Observatory, right?

[Uncle Joe]

3. I wouldn't put too much into it yet but it is interesting, I believe Joe

will meet with the other candidates as well.

[WillyT]

4. Agreed... But Again... Would Love To Be A Fly On THAT Wall...

[Uncle Joe]

5. ...

[99th_Monkey]

26. HA! WillyT I hadn't seen your post before I posted below

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=743855

[WillyT]

28. LOL !!!

[DianeK]

7. well...

O'Malley, perhaps..but the rift between Hillary and Joe is well known..Joe definitely will not be supporting Hillary ...at least in the primary process...so this is very interesting indeed

[fadedrose]

6. Neither Biden nor Bernie are wealthy

and are more into caring about ordinary people than joining the billionaires club like some candidates.

All Bernie needs is a nod from Biden, a smile from Warren, and maybe he has more of a chance then anyone's given him credit for.

C'mon Joe, heat up the kitchen a bit.

I see one problem and it's a big one. T. P. P.

But where there's a will there's a way. Obama will fix it somehow.

[jkbRN]

11. That's interesting,

I always assumed Biden was fairly well off, I knew he grew up in a middle-class household, but didn't know he hasn't raked in major cash lmao. Very respectable.

[PatSeg]

12. Joe was the 2nd poorest

senator in Congress. He was never in it for the money.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

24. The Beltway calls him "Middle Class Joe" and it's NOT meant as a compliment.

[99th_Monkey]

27. But it IS a 'complement'

unintended of course, but I hope Joe's wearing it as the badge of honor it truly is.

[Art_from_Ark]

33. Wow-- so "middle class" is now an insult among Beltway bozos

No wonder the US is so messed up.

[99th_Monkey]

34. And we wonder why Bernie doesn't have more endorsements by the beltway-insider Democrats

they are admitted (proudly even) of being Anti-Middle-Class .. Who knew?

hmm... ya think we may just be touching on the real reason for Bernie's
apparent dearth of beltway-insider endorsements?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

40. They consider "middle class" to be unsophisticated....

Keep in mind that they hang with people who can tell the make of suit you're wearing and if it's from last year.

Priorities, you know.

[Art_from_Ark]

41. I think The Kinks wrote a song about that type

[senz]

35. I agree.

The best things in life aren't things.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

42. We talked about the embedded media in the military but that's nothing compared to the Beltway....

I can see Chris Mathews and George Will wearing tuxes and joking about the little people while they're sucking down cocktails at some gathering of snobs to honor a fellow snob.

[MoonchildCA]

8. That's cool that they met,

but Biden has said he wants to stay involved in the process, and Bernie is a major player is this primary, so he should meet with him.

Biden's statement though--and I remember being struck by it at the time--"I'm not a populist." What the heck? Personally, I think all democrats, should first and foremost be populists, especially Joe, the "regular guy."

[Uncle Joe]

9. I believe that qualifier served Bernie well by adding more significance or weight to

the rest of Joe's sentence.

“I am not a populist. But Bernie Sanders, he’s doing a helluva job,” Biden remarked, leaving at some donors in Miami scratching their heads.

If Joe was an ideological soulmate of Bernie's, then admitting that Bernie was doing a helluva job wouldn't mean as much.

As I posted upthread, I wouldn't put too much in to this meeting just yet, time will tell what if anything will come of it.

[cprise]

18. Now I gotta think

Did Biden think he could have helped Clinton or Sanders by also running? He didn't think he could win...

He might have miscalculated, thinking the public still held hawkish-ness to be a top issue (frankly, if it is then it hasn't expressed itself yet).

Biden seems to identify with Sanders over his disagreements with Clinton's foreign policy.

[Uncle Joe]

20. One sign to look for

is if the corporate media starts seriously tearing into Joe in the very near future, then some one up the food chain got a whiff that he's is leaning toward at least supporting Bernie by his words if not an outright endorsment.

Even if the corporate media suspects it, they will let loose with a preemptive volley.

[senz]

36. That's true.

They are so dead set against Bernie, they don't even try to hide it.

[Eric J in MN]

17. Biden is saying that he's pro-populism

...but that he doesn't regularly condemn wealth-inequality as Sanders does.

[senz]

37. I think Bernie's way more inellectual than Biden.

They're really quite different. Biden is a people person; I get the impression he likes to schmooze and just go with the flow in groups. Bernie is more driven by moral and intellectual passions. Bernie is a very unusual person. His wife probably balances him out; she seems more social and practical.

[Stardust]

21. I'm always perplexed as well when a politician denies being a populist, as if it's not something to

proud of. I don't get it.

What has any populist done to deserve such disdain?

[99th_Monkey]

32. It's well-known that Populists tend to tip-over TPTB's preciou$ apple-cart$

And they hate it when that happens.

[Stardust]

43. True.

[Cassiopeia]

10. Very interesting.

[Action_Patrol]

13. Nothing to it.

Biden said he would meet with any candidate that requested the meeting.

[Uncle Joe]

14. I've read that elsewhere as well. n/t

[AlbertCat]

16. Nothing to it.

So it only means something if it's some kind of special invitation?

No... there is something to it. They didn't just sit a stare at each other and talk about the weather.

[Uncle Joe]

19. They did spend an hour together so that should've given them plenty of time to cover

substantive issues.

[Action_Patrol]

22. Keep telling yourself that.

He opened the door to any candidate that wanted to talk.

[AlbertCat]

23. He opened the door to any candidate that wanted to talk.

So?

That makes any conversation "nothing"?


Well, I guess Hillary is too busy listening to bother with him.

[Action_Patrol]

31. I can't wait for the primaries to end.

[senz]

38. Yeah

I know the feeling.

[Eric J in MN]

15. Biden and Sanders both believe that

..state colleges should be free.

Hillary Clinton believes in a band-aid approach instead called "debt-free college."

[99th_Monkey]

25. OH to have been a fly on the wall for that little one-hour chit-chat.

Calls to mind Joe's ballyhooed meeting with Sen. Warren.

hmm .. interesting is an understatement.

[SmittynMo]

29. I have a feeling

Ever since Joe kinda slipped about Bernie doing one hell of a job, I thought. Hmmmmm

Then he made another reference to Bernie about a week or two after that, intentional then. I do not remember the context.

Then Joe says he won't be silent.

I believe this is at least his second meeting with Bernie.

Joe, like Bernie, is a truther and both deeply care about this country and it's future. Joe has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

If Joe jumps in and supports him, this is a whole new ball game. Maybe then, people will realize it's game on. Maybe then, we can get our country back. I'm feeling pretty good for Bernie right about now.

[Kalidurga]

30. I will not be silent

well this could be interesting. I remember how Joe tore up Paul Ryan in the debates. He is not a lightweight. Ryan is of course I almost felt sorry for him, but seeing the smirk disappear from his smarmy face was so gratifying.

[NYCLisa]

39. probably to let him know that he's attracting Rand Paul types,

and he needs to nip this in the bud.

This would also explain his apology for his idiot campaign statement.