Reply #11: Back when Biden first ran for President I wasn't into [View All]

[gateley]

politics AT ALL. My MO had always been to just let "you guys" pick the nominee, and then I'd vote for him.

Then I'd start hearing his name -- in a condescending way -- on newscasts. I asked my friend Jim -- who is this guy Bidden they're making fun of all the time? (I seem to recall it was after a little story on him.) He said "Oh he's some guy who was running for President and always steals everybody else's lines" or something like that.

Then, probably in 2005 or 2006,I heard him a few times on Imus - usually talking about Veterans affairs or what bullshit the war in Iraq was, and I liked him! He wasn't a typical politician and seemed to tell it like it was (same impression everybody gets.) I MAY have also seen him on Bill Maher - my time frame is a bit iffy.

Soooo, this go 'round I decided to pay attention to who was running. I heard Biden was in the race, even though I liked him from what I'd heard on Imus, I figured he probably wasn't going to be a contender, but I didn't discount him as I might have had I not heard him on the radio.

I started watching the debates, and for the first few I felt I'd be okay with ANY of them as President. But slowly, Biden started pulling ahead of the pack. He ANSWERED the questions! He responded! He didn't just use the questions as a jumping point to present a somewhat prepared statement. (I think Joe, Richardson, Gravel, Dodd and Dennis were pretty impressive. I thought Obama, Hillary and Edwards were just presenting their "right" answers.)

When I first came here, I hadn't even decided for Biden yet. I honestly was kind of paying attention to Ron Paul because I was so disgusted with our government, I thought we needed somebody to pull out the rug from under it and basically start all over. Paul's Libertarian bent appealed to me. (I knew nothing of his staunch pro-life and racist leanings.)

Anyway the more I saw Joe, the more I realized we needed HIM, that he was just perfect for this god-awful time in our history. And more than any of the others, I believed him and trusted him -- believed IN him.

It wasn't too long after I came to DU, and with the guidance and sterling examples of Pirhana, tsegat and Debi, that I gave myself, body and soul, to Joe. :loveya: