The Biden Gambit
EmailWhen Vice President Joe Biden went to upstate New York to campaign for Democrat Bill Owens on Monday, he took a risk.
Instead of campaigning in a low-key way, emphasizing local issues and Owens’ strengths, Biden picked up the gauntlet thrown down by national Republican figures such as Sarah Palin and Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and conservative pundits such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and agreed that the special House race was of national relevance.
“Sarah Palin thinks the answer to energy is ‘Drill, baby, drill,’ ” Biden said.”It’s a lot more complicated, Sarah.” Biden talked about the negativity of the conservative pundits opposing President Obama, how all they do is complain and exclude.
The vice president asked voters to “join us in teaching a lesson” to a Republican party that “cannot tolerate any dissent.”
A senior administration official says that in a race with such a small number of voters – roughly 125,000 voters total turned out Tuesday — the Biden gambit worked, rallying Democrats and others to turn out and oppose these national Republican and conservative figures – by voting for Owens.
“We’re 2-0 against Palin,” a senior administration official says. “The Vice President went in and took on Governor Palin and the other national Republicans who had gotten involved in the race and we’re sure happy that Owens pulled out that win.”
The White House has been very eager to discuss the results of that one House election – and not the crushing gubernatorial defeats in New Jersey and Virginia. This is part of the reasoning as to why that one election was of more national relevance.
-jpt
Rick Santorum Sweeps 3 States 
Pentagon to Open Additional Jobs to Women
Yes!
More Biden!
Posted by: MayBee | November 4, 2009, 6:14 pm 6:14 pm
Biden didnt do a thing. If Scozzs name was not on the ballet Hoffman would have won. Actually her name was on the ballet twice for some reason. I question why she was even on the ballot after dropping from the race!
Hoffman got a significant bump after Palin supported him. You know it, I know it..if Hoffman was picked instead of Scozz to run, he would have won easily. Scozz was not a conservative, not even a moderate. She was nearly the same as the Democrat. The GOP screwed this up by selecting her in the first place.
Biden….lol. Every time I hear his name I cant help but laugh. Just waiting for his next foot in mouth moment.
Posted by: ChuckJ1 | November 4, 2009, 6:32 pm 6:32 pm
2-0 against Palin. Hilarious. They’re keeping track. Instead of worrying about jobs, the economy, a nuclear armed Iran, a possible trade war with China, the falling dollar, a possible double-dip recession, or war in Afghanistan the political hacks in the White House are more worried about pot shots and keeping score against Palin, Fox News, and Limbaugh. Does anyone but the White House care about those scores. I would say most care about the larger issues. They should quickly take note. Our country depends on the White House growing up and figuring out how to lead a nation, not just a political party/frat house.
Posted by: Aaron | November 4, 2009, 6:41 pm 6:41 pm
NY-23 was a meaningless race. Biden didn’t take much of a risk or notch up much of a victory. Lets see the fundamentalist Right fight for a Senate seat in Florida, Illinois, or Delaware next year – all states Republican might carry IF they stick with the current best-chance MODERATE candidate. Those would be contests with some import.
Posted by: jhw539 | November 4, 2009, 6:42 pm 6:42 pm
Lucky for Dems that Obama didn’t go up to NY23 and stump for Owens, like he did for Corzine and Deeds.
Posted by: Mike in Costa Mesa | November 4, 2009, 6:42 pm 6:42 pm
Two Governors trumps one senator every time. And one biden is bad for everyone he tried twice to run for pres, lost sooo I would say one for Palin two for joe.
Posted by: earl | November 4, 2009, 6:54 pm 6:54 pm
“They’re keeping track. Instead of worrying about jobs, the economy, a nuclear armed Iran, a possible trade war with China, the falling dollar, a possible double-dip recession, or war in Afghanistan the political hacks in the White House are more worried about pot shots and keeping score against Palin, Fox News, and Limbaugh.”
__________________________________
Perhaps unlike you they can handle more the two thoughts at once. Perhaps unlike you they have the normal government structures and systems in place with Departments of experts and access to the best information in the world.
Perhaps unlike you their thinking is more than one-dimensional.
Posted by: tierra | November 4, 2009, 6:54 pm 6:54 pm
love it: a small state district butted up against the canadian border: SIGNIFICANT!
a purple state obama took last year: NO BIG DEAL!
a blue state that is practically sponsored by SEIU/ACORN and other democratic “friends”: LOCAL POLITICS!
even if you’re not partisan, the whole thing stinks.
Posted by: kelli | November 4, 2009, 6:58 pm 6:58 pm
Worth noting that pollster Scott Rasmussen stated on Bill O’Reilly’s show this Monday, November 2, 2009, that based on the polls he had seen, Hoffman would win “fairly comfortably.”
Posted by: Danny | November 4, 2009, 7:08 pm 7:08 pm
Posted by: kelli | Nov 4, 2009 6:58:42 PM
kelli the Democrats won TWO congressional seats – one in New York and one in California.
Those are seats that actually sit in the federal government, not regional governors.
Posted by: tierra | November 4, 2009, 7:15 pm 7:15 pm
I firmly believe that if Scozz’s name was not on the ballot, like it shouldnt have been, Hoffman would have won.
Someone explain to me why Hoffman’s name was even on the ballot after she had quit the race? It was on there twice, even.
I think this was done on purpose.
Posted by: ChuckJ1 | November 4, 2009, 7:22 pm 7:22 pm
A private citizen in Alaska took down the White House’s health bill with one Facebook post about “death panels” and now the White House is crowing about 2-0 vs Palin?
I’d say Palin won this battle the minute they mentioned her name.
Posted by: Jim | November 4, 2009, 7:35 pm 7:35 pm
“I firmly believe that if Scozz’s name was not on the ballot, like it shouldnt have been, Hoffman would have won.”
There are deadlines for names being on the ballot.
With early voting many people had already cast their ballots.
Are you proposing the district ripped up and then reprinted every ballot after Dede withdrew…on Sat….3 days before the election?
Hoffman lost because he was an out of town interloper.
Posted by: Ryan C | November 4, 2009, 7:39 pm 7:39 pm
It seems like only a couple of years ago when a Senior White House Official, Rahm Emanuel thought winning both New Jersey and Virginia was really a big deal.
From MSNBC:
[L]ooking back at First Read’s coverage the day after the 2005 New Jersey and Virginia contests, we had forgotten that Rahm Emanuel — then chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and now White House chief of staff — had called us to argue the very point Republicans are now making: that the two gubernatorial contests say something about the upcoming midterms.
Here’s what we wrote then:
Democratic House campaign committee chair Rahm Emanuel, calling First Read immediately after Kaine’s and Corzine’s victories were announced, argued that it’s clear Democratic voters were already energized earlier in the year when Democrat Paul Hackett nearly won a traditionally GOP-leaning Ohio House district. “I think that’s even more true today.” He also pointed out that the mayors of Detroit, Cleveland, and St. Paul, MN were all losing. “A lot of incumbents are losing to change,” he said (although he neglected to mention that these three mayors are Democrats, though the one from St. Paul endorsed Bush last year).
Posted by: robtr | November 4, 2009, 8:18 pm 8:18 pm
“It seems like only a couple of years ago when a Senior White House Official, Rahm Emanuel thought winning both New Jersey and Virginia was really a big deal.”
_____________________________________
He was right then, the Democrats swept the midterms – and he’s right now – yesterdays results mean very little.
Posted by: tierra | November 4, 2009, 10:00 pm 10:00 pm
“A private citizen in Alaska took down the White House’s health bill with one Facebook post about “death panels” and now the White House is crowing about 2-0 vs Palin? I’d say Palin won this battle the minute they mentioned her name.”
Posted by: Jim | Nov 4, 2009 7:35:38 PM
*************************
Palin took down the WH health bill?!!?
When?!!?
You lie!
Speaker Pelosi is calling for a House vote this week. And guess what?
She has another vote today that she didn’t have yesterday!
In addition, Palin claimed that NY-23 was a referendum on Conservatives and so did Joe Biden.
A Conservtive lost NY-23 to a Democrat.
So Palin lost to Joe Biden.
Again.
Fact based on math rather than wishful thinking:
WH v. Palin = 2-0
Posted by: Jan | November 4, 2009, 10:28 pm 10:28 pm
Pretty sad when the prestige of a President fails to help a Democrat governor win in a Democratic state. Bad news for Democrats as the nation comes to its senses.
Posted by: Sigmonde | November 4, 2009, 10:51 pm 10:51 pm
Posted by: Sigmonde | Nov 4, 2009 10:51:01 PM
Far more telling is the fact that – when offered the opportunity to vote Democrats out of Congress (presumably because of dissatisfaction) – voters chose instead to ELECT Democrats to Congress . . . yesterday.
In BOTH bi-elections.
Posted by: tierra | November 4, 2009, 11:31 pm 11:31 pm
Panic in the White House.
They can not promote any of their successes because the have none.
So they spend their time running for election – the last one and the next one.
Obama = Total failure.
Posted by: Kingston J. | November 5, 2009, 7:19 am 7:19 am
Do you really Think that the jobs situation wasn’t there in 2007, 2008? Then you’ve only been listening and watching since the Prez was elected, probably out of “curiosity? Hate? Color? Dislike?….I wouldn’t began to pick either….but I am old enough to know that this Prez was left and I say purposely, the mess of a BROKE BANK and A financial system collapsing after IT was Robbed by Deregulation and Cowboy Selfish mentalities. I recall big companies pulling back and laying off in 2002. I lost my contract with Mack Trucks…due to them not able to move their Trucks because of the Economy. Maybe YOU didn’t see it for blinded by anger, hate of the “muslims” are “coming” back then, and was happy with your “two-bit” job that paid barely minimum wages while your insurance preminums went up, up and away (if you had any at all). Now all of a sudden you’re “screaming” about the economy. Jobs has always been the last to improve….and if the Financial systems are NOT strong, how in the heck can employment improve. I bet on my country and my President. Any fool can be against something, but it’s quite different to be For something.
Posted by: sara | November 5, 2009, 8:25 am 8:25 am
…and I don’t think they’re worried about a brainless-two-bit crazy chick that sees Russia from her “country” (Alaska)….this woman wouldn’t be able to govern “a chicken coop”….and the congressional race was the most significant…governors doesn’t make laws or vote for anyone’s agenda, but his/her own. Read your history on the 2 states that elected a Republican governor!
Posted by: sara | November 5, 2009, 8:32 am 8:32 am
Palin with one facebook comment – 45%
Biden with a trip to NY-23 – 49%
I think Palin won this round.
It’s enlightening that the WH is keeping track of their “wins” against Palin. She is in their heads. And that is a good thing.
Posted by: Axey | November 5, 2009, 10:24 am 10:24 am
===Posted by: sara | Nov 5, 2009 8:32:04 AM===
I thought the same thing and wondered why Obama had 6 campaign appearances for a governor “that doesn’t make laws or vote for anyone’s agenda”. I forget the number of appearances he made on behalf of Deeds. He should have stayed in Washington, doing the people’s business instead of campaigning for governors.
For someone they are not worrying about, they sure know the number of victories they have over her. A housewife from Alaska.
Posted by: Axey | November 5, 2009, 10:28 am 10:28 am
…and I don’t think they’re worried about a brainless-two-bit crazy chick that sees Russia from her “country”
============
Can I ask why you put quotes around the word country, when Palin didn’t use that word?
Here’s what she said: “They’re our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.”
Now, that is entirely true. You don’t have to like Sarah Palin, but I don’t understand why people find joy in misrepresenting what she said, then hating on her for *their* made up storyline.
Posted by: MayBee | November 5, 2009, 11:43 am 11:43 am
I think the message is pretty clear. Republicans CAN win general elections if they put up moderate candidates.
On the other hand, moderate GOP candidates are going to have an increasingly difficult time winning primaries.
What to do? Win elections? Or satisfy the extremists?
I think most people realize that the Sarah Palin-type candidates are not substantial. Voting for someone like Joe Wilson, for instance, is purely an act of protest. And most people see that America needs more than mere symbolic candidates who can only represent rage…. we actually need people who can lead, who have ideas.
A lot of progressives are upset with Obama… but I think he has it right. He should keep trying to work with moderates in both parties. And not cave to extreme conservatives or extreme liberals… even if it hurts him politically. Because it is good for the country.
Posted by: gobot | November 5, 2009, 11:57 am 11:57 am
Voting for someone like Joe Wilson, for instance, is purely an act of protest.
============
A protest against what? The man’s been a Congressman since 2001.
Posted by: MayBee | November 5, 2009, 12:02 pm 12:02 pm
Beating Palin is not an insignificant thing. She is the symbol of degeneration within the GOP.
As a former Republican, I will be happy when the GOP moves a little closer to the middle.
I don’t like voting for Democrats, but when the GOP increasingly put up protest candidates whose views are informed by rage…. electing them is a form of collective suicide. It makes absolutely no sense to elect a candidate who believes that everything the government does is failure.
It’s like going to a restaurant where the chefs all believe that nobody washes their hands after using the toilet, and that eating out will only give you hepatitis. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Posted by: gobot | November 5, 2009, 12:06 pm 12:06 pm
A protest against the very idea of government.
Which is ironic, because all these politicians that are blocking common sense health care reform on the grounds that it is doomed to fail are recipients of government health care.
There ought to be room within the Republican Party for significant health care reform… at least along the lines of what they have in Switzerland…. totally private, but well-regulated. But the GOP won’t even support that.
Posted by: gobot | November 5, 2009, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm
I don’t like voting for Democrats, but when the GOP increasingly put up protest candidates whose views are informed by rage.
============
Did you vote for McCain? Did you vote for him in the primaries?
Posted by: MayBee | November 5, 2009, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm
===gobot:”A protest against the very idea of government.=========
A vote for a former Army Lawyer, a long time state senator, and a US Congressman for the past 8 years is a vote against the very idea of government…..why?
+++++++++++++
===gobot:”Which is ironic, because all these politicians that are blocking common sense health care reform on the grounds that it is doomed to fail are recipients of government health care. ”
===
Well, kind of. But that’s like saying they are on welfare because they get their money from the government.
Also, it isn’t “common sense” health care reform, and no House Republican is blocking it.
Posted by: MayBee | November 5, 2009, 12:15 pm 12:15 pm
I went to a college where there were a lot of wealthy students. A lot of them were really angry with their parents for various reasons…. even as they lived comfortably off their largesse.
To see this pattern replicated collectively by an extremist wing of the GOP is kind of funny, but mostly sad. You have all these people angry with the government… even taking extreme stances… calling for its abolition or speaking of secession. But every day these people live under the safety and security of a functioning civil society, where taxes are levied and services are provided.
I can understand readjusting our fiscal priorities…. but it is naive and childish to think that government IS the source of all out problems. And, I suspect, deep down inside, most of them know that the government, no matter how much they yell at it, is not going to vanish.
It’s just like the college commies…. ranting against their dads…. but knowing that each week, there will be money in the ATM, regardless of what they say.
It’s childish and stupid…. but still millions of college kids succumb to this thinking each year. Apparently, as they get older and more “mature”, they find a new villain to blame for their insecurities and use to shore up their own misplaced sense of “independence” and “accomplishment.”
Posted by: gobot | November 5, 2009, 12:18 pm 12:18 pm
I backed away from McCain after he picked Palin. I just couldn’t stand the idea of that inept goofball being a heartbeat away from the Presidency.
We’d be as well-served with a rabid chinchilla in the White House. And, while Obama isn’t perfect, I’d take the certainty of a moderate like Obama than the possibility of an impulsive, ill-tempered chinchilla.
Posted by: gobot | November 5, 2009, 12:22 pm 12:22 pm
And, I suspect, deep down inside, most of them know that the government, no matter how much they yell at it, is not going to vanish.
============
Who, even on the surface, is talking about government vanishing?
Not Palin, Thompson, Pawlenty, Hoffman, or Wilson.
Talk about your red herring.
Posted by: MayBee | November 5, 2009, 12:24 pm 12:24 pm
“A vote for a former Army Lawyer, a long time state senator, and a US Congressman for the past 8 years is a vote against the very idea of government…..why?”
Whatever Joe Wilson was in a former life, it’s not what he represents now.
Now, Joe Wilson is the candidate whose chief accomplishment is screaming at the President because he’s afraid that somewhere, somehow, a Mexican baby might get treated for dysentery in an American hospital, then apologizing for the atavistic outburst, and then unapologizing by going around the country using his primate moment to raise money for his future campaign.
If Joe Wilson was once an upstanding man is of little consequence. Once he found out that he could, by crooking his back, dragging his knuckles, and flinging his own waste, he could win more votes…. he decided to run with it.
That’s what he is. That’s what he does. That’s why people send him money.
Posted by: gobot | November 5, 2009, 12:29 pm 12:29 pm
Well, gobot, don’t forget it is President Obama who stood in front of the nation in prime time and promised that taxpayer health care money would simply not go to illegal immigrants.
So, he’s equally concerned as Representative Wilson. With a lot more power and a bigger microphone.
Posted by: MayBee | November 5, 2009, 12:35 pm 12:35 pm
MayBee…. of course it is a red herring. But they use it to get votes.
Don’t blame me…. blame Rush Limbaugh for this nonsense. Blame Grover Norquist. Blame Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin and all the other dingbots that ran away with the GOP.
They know that their whole schtick is just an effective pose…. but they do it anyway.
How is it that people ON medicare are opposed to government health care? Because people don’t have a clue. They are just afraid…. and some people have found that if they stoke this fear into rage…. they can ride this wave of fury for their own benefit.
Until the GOP gets rid of these crass opportunists, it will continue to be idiotic.
I wish it were different, I really do… because I don’t particularly enjoy voting for Democrats. But that’s just the way it is. And until the GOP sees the writing on the wall, it will continue to be that way.
Posted by: gobot | November 5, 2009, 12:36 pm 12:36 pm
Maybee….
at this point you are just trying to win an argument.
I think the difference is that Obama is a moderate trying to make a good policy.
Joe Wilson’s action, on the other hand, is just a symbolic gesture, more reflective of rage than an effort to create good policy.
And there’s the problem with the GOP. Looking always for little angles and little tricks…. never capable of standing for anything in particular except the idea of being against. And making up excuses for their own bad behavior.
Posted by: gobot | November 5, 2009, 12:40 pm 12:40 pm
===. I bet on my country and my President. Any fool can be against something, but it’s quite different to be For something. ===
You are a study in contradictions. You didn’t bet on your country and your president when Bush was in office.
Posted by: Axey | November 5, 2009, 12:41 pm 12:41 pm
===never capable of standing for anything in particular except the idea of being against.===
Yes, much better to be part of the party that is keeping score. 2-0.
Posted by: Axey | November 5, 2009, 12:43 pm 12:43 pm
I don’t know. I wanted Bush to be an excellent President. And I cheered when he finally beat Gore in 2000.
But he didn’t do a good job.
Do I wish Bush ill? No. Do I support people screaming at him and wishing for his failure? No. Would I welcome the opportunity to shake his hand? It would be an honor!
But I did write many, many letters asking him to consider doing things differently.
I think that there is a world of difference between this sort of opposition and the kind of opposition that you are defending, Axey.
It’s childish to think that everything bad in the future ought to be allowed because something bad happened in the past.
Posted by: gobot | November 5, 2009, 12:47 pm 12:47 pm
===I think that there is a world of difference between this sort of opposition and the kind of opposition that you are defending, Axey.===
I don’t.
Posted by: Axey | November 5, 2009, 12:53 pm 12:53 pm
The difference between someone like Palin and someone like Christie is that, while both are Republicans, one is moderate. Given Corzine’s problems, I think it is a great thing he was voted out. And, I think Christie is going to be a good governor. Palin, on the other, is increasingly marginal, and it is something she is actively doing to herself.
I think we all win when marginal figures fall to their own extremism.
And I think this is something we should keep score over. Because we all need to be reminded that this is not what the country needs right now.
YOU clearly believe that the number 1 thing for America is that we defeat Obama and make him fail. But I don’t think most Americans think that.
And so, 2-0, is 2 wins for common sense and 2 FAILS for pointless, self-destructive, self-indulgent rage.
It’s too bad that this duality has become personalized…. it would be better if it remained an abstraction…. but Palin has made herself the pinup girl for rage… and, so, when rage loses… she loses, too. And because her rage dependent on the hope that Obama might fail, when rage fails, Obama wins.
Again, too bad. But that’s kind of what the GOP has been trying to do for a while. It’s not Obama’s fault.
Posted by: gobot | November 5, 2009, 12:57 pm 12:57 pm
You don’t think there is a difference between HATING Obama and disapproving of particular policies carried out by Bush?
I guess I am not surprised. Because otherwise the extremist right-wing offensive against Obama would otherwise be unjustifiable without couching it all in some kind of perverse moral relativism.
In the conservative mind, Bush’s invasion of Iraq (and the criticism it provoked) is equal to, say, Obama’s feet on his desk (and the outrage, often racially tinged, that it provoked).
In one case, you have a President starting a war and all the loss of life and money that goes with it… and people being incredibly nervous about it.
In the other case, you have a President putting his feet on the desk, like every other President before him…. and people thinking that for some reason, it is a disrespect to the desk to have those particular feet on it.
One involves people worrying about the loss of life and the future security of the country. The other involves people just not liking Obama, not because his feet could potentially cost the country billions of dollars and thousands of lives, but because they were HIS feet and it is insulting for someone like HIM to put his feel on the same desk that those other guys put their feet on.
Right or wrong, I can understand cries of concern when people’s lives are on the line. I cannot understand the wailing and gnashing of teeth that accompanies Obama’s every move.
There is a world of difference between the two.
The sooner you…. and people like you… acknowledge these differences, the sooner the GOP will regain its sanity.
Posted by: gobot | November 5, 2009, 1:09 pm 1:09 pm
The sooner you…. and people like you… acknowledge these differences, the sooner the GOP will regain its sanity.
======
I have good news for you.
If you interviewed people in the GOP and asked them “Which is more important, ‘War’ or ‘Feet on the Desk’”, you would get an answer of “war” every time.
So. You can probably stop fretting about such things.
Posted by: MayBee | November 5, 2009, 1:19 pm 1:19 pm
===In the other case, you have a President putting his feet on the desk, like every other President before him.===
I have no idea what you are referring to.
Posted by: Axey | November 5, 2009, 1:57 pm 1:57 pm
I would have voted for Joe Biden for President for his straight forward attitude and years of experience…now I am not too sure with his attack dog condescending attitude, Sarah??…so UNPROFESSIONAL, thought he was smarter than that…guess he just like every other politician never bite the hand that feeds you(Obama.)
Posted by: Parallex View | November 5, 2009, 5:35 pm 5:35 pm
Oh, yes, glaot, Mr. axelrod…..but can we gloat because Both Biden and President Obama got pasted in Virginia (by a landslide 59%-41% margin across the board, in whcih no Democrat assemblyman opposed by a Reublican won) and New Jersey (Carried by Prez O and Biden in 2008 by 16%, but lost to Corzine against a Republican [Christie] by 5%, in whcih O and Biden both campaigned heavily)?
Thanks for glossing over the obvious….
Posted by: Jason L. | November 6, 2009, 10:11 am 10:11 am