Joe Biden on having the juice to get thing done

[gateley]

Brad Warthen EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
The State.com - South Carolina's Home Page
Sunday, 07 October 2007

Why should voters in South Carolina’s Democratic primary skip the front-runners to pick Joe Biden as their nominee for president?

Because, he explained to our editorial board last week, he’s the guy with the juice. He’s got the experience to have the knowledge, he has sound ideas based on that knowledge, and he’s got the credibility to sell the ideas.

snip

So who has the juice? Joe Biden does, as he had demonstrated a few days earlier.
The previous week, he had pulled off the apparent miracle of getting 75 members of the U.S. Senate — which meant getting a bunch of Republican votes — to vote for the centerpiece of the Biden platform: A plan to divide Iraq into three semi-autonomous regions under a loose federalist system.

snip

How did he sell the Senate on this?
First, “I’ve been working these guys and women for a year on it; I’m like a broken record on it.” He sold it on the merits, but it was also appealing because it didn’t involved the constitutional problem of trying to tell the commander in chief how many troops he can send where when.

But it also came down to juice, to credibility: “I think if you ask Lindsey or you ask other Republicans, they trust me; I don’t ever play a game with them. I think that they think I know something about this issue, and I have not been one who is saying things that they know is not rational.”

snip

What about bringing troops home?
“What I don’t want to do is fly under false colors here. I don’t want to tell the American people that if this plan is adopted, all Americans come home,” he said.
“If this plan were adopted, it’s the only way in which you could justify keeping American forces there.”

But if it weren’t adopted, unlike his rivals, he’d get the troops out right away.
“I would not withdraw from the region. But I’ll be damned if I’m gonna continue to have my son’s generation stuck in a position where they’re on the fault line, and the only thing they’re there to do is keep things from getting worse,” without any prospect of them getting better.

So that’s his deal: He’s the guy with the plan, and the juice to get it done. And last week, he had the cred to make folks believe it.

http://blogs.thestate.com/bradwarthensblog/2007/10/hold-this.html

[havocmom]

1. He is a very bright man. Great Sec of State material

If his juice is so good, what has he been waiting for? FIX things now.

[gateley]

2. He's trying -- he got the amendment passed. That's FORWARD MOTION. What

has anybody else done?

And he's not just stopped after the vote came in. He's been in Iraq discussing the next steps with the Iraqi government and leaders.

He's doing a LOT. And again, what have any of the other candidates actually DONE other than tell us what their plans are?

[havocmom]

3. I really believe he can do more good as Sec of State, and boy could we use help in that post

A president seems to be more hobbled. Biden focused on international diplomacy would be priceless to the US.

As a presidential nominee... pretty risky. Too long in the Senate = too many complex votes which the GOP will ALWAYS take outta context and use

Frankly, I don't like the idea of ANY Senator being the DEM nominee for that very reason. It just blows up in our faces and has every time since 1960. We ought to learn something from that.

Biden at State = a much safer, saner world.

[gateley]

4. You offer valid points - and you're certainly not alone in your opinions. I always

give credence and consideration to a Red Sox fan -- seriously!

I think it's kind of an unspoken - at times spoken - assumption that he would be SOS if his Presidential run doesn't pan out. Who WOULDN'T benefit from his experience and relationships he's forged over the years.

When I envision him as SOS and in turn imagine each of the other candidates in the role of President, I think he could be a strong partner with MOST of them :)

[PatSeg]

5. I can see him as president very clearly

After reviewing the issues and all the candidates credentials, I try to picture each of them giving the State of Union address, visiting with foreign leaders, etc., and Biden is the most presidential. That isn't what I based my support on, but it is the icing on the cake.

Plus he is the most electable nationwide in the general. If he wins by a very large majority (which I think he would), he would have a real "mandate" for change.