It's official: Obama has chosen Joe Biden has his running mate. Not Hillary Clinton. And not the long-shot Kathleen Sebelius.
The few ripples of major news that Biden made during the primary were mostly about his gaffes. As you may recall, he's the one who referred to Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." There's a lot more where that came from, including a 2006 comment that "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent." As Gina at What About Our Daughters puts it, "Obama Chooses Biden as VP: Because Biden's Bright, Shiny and Clean!"
It might seem silly to "introduce" a guy who's been in Congress almost as long as I've been alive. But if you're anything like me, Biden is one of those people who pops up on your radar every once in awhile (like when he makes one of the aforementioned gaffes), but you haven't paid much attention to him. So, feminists, let's look a little closer at his record...
The conventional wisdom is that Biden brings with him foreign policy heft and experience, an area where Obama is perceived as weak. (Biden is the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.) Biden voted to authorize Bush's war in Iraq, then later called for a repeal of that authorization. He has advocated for withdrawal, specifically calling for partition-separated, federalized Kurd, Sunni, and Shiite areas, as he wrote a May 2006 op-ed. His son is headed to Iraq.
Biden's also a long-serving member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which, because of it vets and approves Supreme Court nominees, has an incredibly important role in protecting choice. There's good and bad on Biden's record here. He chaired the committee from 1987 to 1995, presiding over the confirmation hearings of Robert Bork (who was rejected) and Clarence Thomas.
Biden's role in the Thomas hearings, particularly his treatment of Anita Hill, are something that get little mention these days. (Although some women remember.) Biden says he did not vociferously pursue Hill's charges of sexual harassment because he didn't want to go after a Supreme Court nominee the way Republicans would. Here's Charles Ogletree, who represented Hill, on why Biden's excuse is bullshit:
OGLETREE: (Senator Biden) doesn't understand that by sitting back and taking no position that he has encouraged the victimization of Anita Hill. She has civil rights and civil liberties, too. She wasn't applying for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court. She was not coming forward with an agenda to change the landscape of America.And so for him to say that he didn't help her because he didn't want to be like the other side, to me, is to acknowledge that he has neglected to do his duties. He was the chairman. He was supposed to ask tough questions. He was supposed to get to the bottom of issues....And the bottom line is that Anita Hill was pilloried from beginning to end without any protection from anybody in that process....
What the senator did regrettably was to bend over in the wrong direction, and I think he did a great disservice in the sense of civil rights by being so tolerant of the lack of responsiveness on the part of one party and being so intolerant of efforts on the other side to bring out issues that may have shed light on (Thomas' character).
And we all know what happened: Thomas was confirmed. And when it came time to question John Roberts and Samuel Alito during their own confirmation hearings, Biden was incredibly long-winded and chose to talk mostly about himself rather than question the nominees. When he finally got around to it, he did ask some important questions about domestic violence and abortion rights. But he pretty much gave up on the idea of filibustering either candidate.
After the Thomas confirmation, Biden went on to champion the Violence Against Women Act. Dana Goldstein followed Biden on the campaign trail during the Iowa primary, and she had some observations about how he discussed his record on violence against women:
And he never forgets to tout his leadership in passing the groundbreaking Violence Against Women Act of 1994. He's fond, à la anti-choice conservatives, of criticizing national feminist organizations for arriving late to the cause. "They were more concerned about the choice and gender issues," he intones. "While others talked, I got it done." (Eventually Biden partnered with the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, now known as Legal Momentum, to write the legislation.)
That said, he has been good about shepherding the legislation through its various reauthorizations.
Biden has a not-so-hot record on choice. He says he supports Roe v. Wade, but is not really interested in expanding access to low-income women. (He has, however, voted to expand contraception access.) He voted for legislation banning dilation and extraction abortions, but criticized the Supreme Court decision upholding the law. He has voted against parental consent and notification laws, and laws banning minors from crossing state lines to obtain an abortion. NARAL gave him a 60% approval rating in 2007.
I'm absolutely missing other pros/cons about Biden here. He is terrible on criminal justice issues. He does not support marriage equality (but at least he doesn't support a constitutional amendment banning it). He's in favor of expanding health insurance for children and paths to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. There are other little details -- Ta-Nehisi is excited about Biden's debate skills, Moira Whelan is happy that he apparently knows how to pick and keep a smart staff.
My feeling? Eh. Really, I wasn't expecting anything overwhelmingly wonderful from Obama's vice-presidential pick. I do feel like it could have been worse -- Obama could have gone with a more conservative running mate. What do you all think?
UPDATE: Read other takes on the Obama/Biden ticket from What About Our Daughters, Jack and Jill Politics, Rachel Setzer, Obsidian Wings, Matt Yglesias, Scott Lemieux, A Slant Truth, Ezra Klein, Pam Spaulding, Kathy G, and Digby. Leave other links in comments!
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Meet Joe Biden.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/8846
I am... underwhelmed.
Sigh.
Can't say I am impressed with this choice. It has so hype up...
Without knowing too much about Biden (I was a Kucinich supporter and by the time he dropped out it was clear either Clinton or Obama would take the nomination), I must say I was hoping for Dodd. He just seems like a genuinely good person, and though he's Catholic and thus doesn't support gay marriage, he gives great speeches about respecting homosexuals and giving everyone rights (which is a lot better than most politicians in this country). Also Dodd has been spearheading campaigns since forever to reduce the overwhelmingly white-male centrism of art in the Captiol, which he doesn't get much appreciation for and which makes me think he really does care about women and minorities.
This is the 3rd time I've felt really disappointed in this election (the first one I can vote in): first Kucinich dropped out, then Clinton didn't get the nomination, and now Obama has chosen a running mate who has a lot of the same policy-based flaws I fear he himself might have.
But, at least they're better than McCain...
I don't know whether to feel obnoxiously self-righteous that I still think all the people who during the primaries seemed to think the sun shined out of Obama's a$$ were wrong (myself, on the other hand, maintained both Clinton and Obama more flawed people and definitely politicians to comparable extents)... or merely, disappointed...
I bet my mom though, who was definitely pro-Clinton anti-Obama, and afraid Obama wouldn't do as much for women in the U.S. as Clinton would, is totally doing her self-righteous thing right now...
*sigh*
We linked to this post over at the CA NOW blog: http://www.canow.org/canoworg/2008/08/obama-picks-bid.html
I've been waiting all night for your thoughts on this. :D
I posted on my blog a few days ago about why I think Obama needs to choose a woman, or else he'll lose the election. And I think he just lost the election.
Here's what I said...
"Obama must choose a female running mate to secure a competitive position in November. ...A female candidate would be the best choice to both maintain a consistent message of change and complement Obama.
If he doesn't select a woman, it places McCain in a strategic position with the ability to win undecided moderates, women, and former Hillary supporters. If Obama doesn't, then McCain could choose a woman, certainly defying current expectations. This would signal to voters (perhaps falsely) a return to the maverick, bipartisan image of his earlier days. Undecideds could move to McCain's camp to follow this 'progressive,' loosely-identified Republican and his female VP. The move could quickly steal the spotlight away from Obama and allow McCain to win the election on the backs of the center, rather than the traditional strategy of drumming up the far right Republican base through vilification of minorities."
Biden just... does nothing for me. As a woman, as a feminist, as a voter in general. It's disappointingly inconsistent with Obama's overall message and Biden himself is, as you pointed out, such a mixed bag. Sigh.
Well, Obama is certainly losing his lead in the polls: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html#polls
Thanks for the quick analysis, Ann.
I have to say, I'm also underwhelmed. Not that I expected to be overwhelmed by the pick, but Biden really rubs me the wrong way. He gets all this attention from Democrats for being a straight talker. All I see is a bit of a moron, who not only doesn't think before he speaks, but also that he has a lot of really dumb beliefs. Since when did not thinking before speaking become a virtue?
And this common narrative of Biden as being strong on foreign policy irks me as well. Great, chair of foreign relations committee. Doesn't seem to have given him any good ideas about it. His three-state solution is a joke. Let's look at how dividing up conquered nations based on religion worked for India and Pakistan. Why are Biden's and McCain's "experience" on foreign policy supposed to be so good, when they've clearly given them both some idiotic notions?
Whatever. Nobody would've really made me happy, because all these politicians are jackasses in the long run. Just call me jaded, but electoral politics make me nauseous.
On the other hand, I do sort of have to agree with another sentiment I've heard, which is:
If a significant number of American women concerned about "women's issues" wind up voting for McCain so that he wins the elections, maybe they deserve what they get. Americans have such a strange way of understanding electoral politics compared to much of the rest of the world... I don't think it's overstating things to say they /do/ make decisions for stupid reasons.
I'll tell you one thing I'm pretty worried about though is the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debate. I don't think Obama is so good at the debate thing, not as good as Clinton was, and if Biden is known for sticking his foot in his mouth, well... damn.
You know, I always got the impression that Biden absolutely hated Obama. And maybe he does.
I would have liked either Sebelius or Richardson. But I guess Biden is alright. When all is said and done, we do have a two party system so you can get behind Obama/Biden or McCain/whoever.
He'll be a pretty good attack dog and probably say cool things like "America deserves a president who knows how many houses he owns." I imagine he'll also be the guy who takes the right to task after the the election as Vice President.
He might not support public funding for abortion, but were we really expecting that any time soon anyway?
I'm with the underwhelmed crowd.
This just reaffirms for me that expatriatism is the way to go. I didn't sign up for this circus--out I'm outta here ASAP!
and offcourse, the McCain camp is now claiming that Obama is indeed inexperienced because otherwise he wouldn't have picked someone so experienced...
Far as I know, when you want the best results, you take all the most experienced people you can get, wheter you yourself are experienced or not.
I'm in the middle. I do think it's important to note that Joe Biden did author the Violence Against Women Act, and while his Senate website exaggerates the reduction of DV and rape that has occurred since the passage, its still an important piece of legislation.
At least Senator Obama didn't go with Bayh or Kaine. Either of those would have been disastrous.
I'm kind of surprised you linked to that shoddy blackhippychick blog. Obama's half-brother-gate is pretty much a non-story considering the two have only met a couple of times and the brother himself said he's happy where he is and resents being used as a political tool by the right.
Anyway, I'm trying to learn more about Biden before forming an opinion, so thanks for posting this.
Robos,just to clarify, I linked to blackhippychick as a nod to the fact that other women remember Biden's behavior during the Thomas confirmation hearings, not as an endorsement of every sentiment in the post.
Meh. I'm totally underwhelmed by this choice but I'm not surprised after being underwhelmed by the video here http://www.feministing.com/archives/010510.html
Now I'm just even sadder that Senator Clinton won't get the nomination.
From an outside perspective I have to look at this two ways:
1. Biden's not overly impressive about anything except for his long-term experience and foreign policy awareness. He certainly doesn't inspire as many people on the left as Obama, and is a pretty big foil to Obama. With that said though,
2. Joe Biden is running for vice president, a position that usually involves little to no power. I don't see him advising Obama on matters of abortion, and he seems pretty much like a foreign policy adviser. He also really helps Obama even out the ticket.
I predicted Biden weeks ago and this is no shock. Sometimes a candidate has to choice the VP who gives them the best shot at winning, in this case Biden.
Surprised you couldn't find a better representation of that lingering resentment towards Biden, then.
While Katheleen Sebelius would have been a wonderful match for Obama, both in policy and perception, Obama could have done much worse with Kaine or Bayh as a running mate. Joe Biden has never been a favorite of mine (yes, I have favorite politicians- as a political science student they’re my celebrities); but I think he’s going to be a good fit for the VP candidate. For a few reasons:
-His foreign policy experience is unmatched. Right now, in the shit hole of the war in Iraq and John McCain singing about bombing Iran and reinstating the draft; voters need to see the Democrats as having an solid understanding of how we can end the war without Iraq crumbling to the ground in the process.
-Biden is the hardass that the Obama campaign needs right now. With McCain’s campaign being based on little more than attacking Obama, the Democrats need someone who is willing to fight back just as hard (albeit in a more tactful manner), and let the McCain campaign know that we’re not going let them run over us. My only hope is that Biden will take a few tips from Obama’s people as to how not to put his foot in his mouth.
-Obama’s campaign is about changing the institution of the American government and what is better than a politician who has spent 30 some years of his life entrenched into the system, but who still knows that change is needed and is willing to help. Changes in the way the government is run are not going to be done successfully, if at all, if there is not a clear and precise understanding of the way things go in the failed system. Biden has this experience and can aid in the transition into a system that works for the people without making the country fall about at the seams. Obama knows how important it is to get this right so that the country can once again be legitimate in the eyes of the world, and most importantly in the eyes of it’s people, and it’s not going to happen without the help of someone with as much knowledge of the way the system works than Biden.
I know Biden’s stance on choice isn’t the greatest, but I don’t think he was brought into this campaign because of that. VP nominates are typically brought in for a few select issues and reasons, not for the overall records and stances, like a Presidential nominee. Biden can fill those spaces in the campaign that Obama needs him too. As for his record on choice, let’s just be happy he isn’t going to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
I keep forgetting Biden is a Dem. The reason for that is he snuck an anti-drug bill into the Amber Alert Act in 2003, and of course everyone thought it was a Republican who did it. I made a whole documentary on that controversy, and yet to this day when his name comes up, his political party doesn't register to me automatically. Maybe it's cuz I can't tell Dems and Repubs apart anymore. anyway here's the link to the documentary and the bill in 2003:
http://leshengliu.com/Generation%20E.html
afharbison,
Before you posted, I had started to think in the same way anyway.
Biden probably isn't going to have tons of power, and as less of a figurehead than Hillary Clinton, may be more willing to get in line behind the presidential candidate/president where conflict over beliefs is concerned.
The Republicans will totally be able to use some of the stuff Biden has said against Obama.
Either way, dangit, I hope Obama wins hope Obama wins hope Obama wins.
I love seeing people look at this critically, and I love reading that people are reserving an opinion until they are more informed on Biden.
I am not on the fence about this, though- I am absolutely thrilled! I think Biden is the best one out there for the VP job right now, and I have an enormous amount of respect for his career. I think he will balance out the ticket in an entirely positive way: he has no tolerance for uniformed double-talk that is so often fed to us through media (such as Fox News) or individuals on Capital Hill (such as McCain) and fills in many of Obama's potential weaknesses.
There are several issues that do seem worrying (that I am not worried about) - Biden has a reputation for putting his foot in his mouth, or for being long-winded. I see these as two parts of a whole: if you hear something that is out of context to the rest of his speech, it can be construed in a negative light. This is very true of his comment on Obama, made at the beginning of his own campaign for presidency - this was not meant to be a racial slur, but a comment on how "clean" another young senator's politics are, and how he respects that. I have to disagree with the comment Tiggrrl posted, disappointed he did not chose a woman as a running mate. I think it would have ultimately weakened the ticket, putting it TOO far to the left. This election is about change, something most people want and many more of which are in trepidation. Someone like Biden is comforting with his working-class background, loving family life, and long career history.
I think Biden makes the ticket have more depth (a criticism the McCain camp was making of Obama). Biden is Roman-Catholic, yet supports abortion. He respects the need for preserved natural resources and alternative energy. He has been in office, and working on the international level long enough to essentially grow up next to what are now world-leaders. I feel Biden has demonstrated time and again that he is able to think critically and knows how to navigate the murky US politics. Obama, in an interview detailing what he was looking for in a VP, said
I have only recently read about his wife - and though it was just a blurb, I think we can all look forward to Jill Biden being a glowing presence along with Michelle Obama's shine.
ugh, i am so bummed out about this. i've been secretly hoping/holding out for a "My VP is gonna be... AL GORE" or "...Dennis Kucinich" or "...SUPERWOMAN!" or anything along those lines. I've been underwelmed by Obama during this whole process, and never really understood exactly why I was. I suppose deep down I knew he'd do something like this. *BIG HEAVING SIGH* The VP nom can turn out to be good for us, right? RIGHT???
(this post is rather inarticulate, etc because i'm lacking coffee.)
Ugh! Hillary didnt get elected because the media was more obsessed with her boobs than her politics and that proved distracting to the public. Now we have Obama (which I'm not technically against) who chooses Biden! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Gimme a better one!
Yeah, I still hope Obama wins, but I WANTed Hillary!!
EEK~I thought he would at least pick some awesome lady... so so sad!
Here is my conditioned thinking as Native American...he's at least gotta have the white man to back him up...
I'm sure it will all be "over looked at" by the time this is finished, but I remember hearing him speak during the Clarence Thomas nomination and he was not happy with the situation or the nominee. If I remember correctly his comments were well thought out and repectful of women.
The most important thing is that Obama and his running mate are elected in November. Us radical feminists are not a group he really needs to worry about defecting to McCain, are we?
jane commented at August 23, 2008 2:31 PM: "Us radical feminists are not a group he really needs to worry about defecting to McCain, are we?"
Directly to McCain, I bet not!
Meanwhile...
As the U.S. federal government is structured in 2008, McCain will mostl likely win the presidency unless one other candidate wins more Electoral College (see http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/ ) votes than he gets. He probably can't lose to a group of candidates who each individually won less votes than he did but together won more votes than he did (see http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#270 ). He can't lose to "None of the Above" either.
How likely is it that voting for a 3rd party candidate in this election will help someone get more Electoral College votes than McCain gets?
How likely is it that not voting in this election will help someone get more Electoral College votes than McCain gets?
For that matter, how likely is it that voting for Barr will help someone get more electoral college votes than Obama gets?
Meanwhile, suppose the structure doesn't change and Cynthia McKinney comes close to getting more Electoral College votes than anyone else in 2012 or later (it could happen! Jesse Ventura was a 3rd party candidate when he ran against a Democrat and a Republican for governor of Minnesota and won!), while staying in the Green Party and without significantly changing her policies.
How many of the people who currently prefer her would still prefer her and vote for her?
How many of the people who currently prefer her would accuse her of selling out and not deserving their votes if she gains that much of a chance of winning the election?
It seems to me that anything a candidate does to gain some votes will lose some other votes, so the trick is to figure out how to gain more votes than you lose (and to not lose a ton of votes for the sake of losing a ton of votes for the sake of gaining a few votes from the anti-popularity crowd, BTW).
"Us radical feminists are not a group he really needs to worry about defecting to McCain, are we?"
The media would certainly say we are ...
Mina, your post confused me.
Care to take another look and break it down for us?
I think what Mina meant to say was this: if Obama alienates the traditional democratic base of voters by not involving women in the process or moving too far to the center he risks losing voters who would traditionally heavily favor his party.
They may not switch over to McCain, but that they don't vote at all, or vote for a third party candidate, could be enough for McCain to win.
The point is that with any political posturing there's a trade-off. In attempting to court the center Obama risks losing people on the far left, or in certain demographic groups. However, this is true with any political campaign.
In this case, though, the trade-off may be worth it if it can reinforce Obama's foreign policy and experience positions, two places where he is extremely weak. If it works he has a chance to pull ahead with voters in the center who care about foreign policy and use experience as a barometer. If it fails he will have alienated some of the party faithful and people in the center won't care about his VP choice.
The reason why Obama built up so much hype around his veep choice is because he wants EVERYBODY to know who Joe Biden is and exactly what Biden will contribute to his campaign.
It's a savvy, but risky, gambit. It'll be fun to see how it plays out from a poli-sci standpoint.
I have no problems with this. I might not agree with his voting record 100%, but he was actually my first choice for president. Quite frankly, Obama needs a more middle of the road politician to counter what many view as his extreme liberal voting record. I find it funny that the McCain camp is already commenting on the negative things Biden has said about Obama in the past. To me it just proves what Obama has said from the beginning; that he wants to be like Lincoln and pick people that don't always agree with him. It proves he is willing to listen to others, and not just surround himself with "yes men". The Republicans also commented on how Biden has complained about Obama's lack of foreign policy experience. Doesn't choosing Biden show that Obama is looking for somebody who IS experienced? Good on him, I say.
I'm delighted by the pick. More so for his potential ability to get through important, critical leglislation than with every bit of his personality or his campaigning.
Biden's role in passing VAWA was really spectacular! I had the opportunity to research the legislative history of the bill and was struck by Biden's intelligence and commitment in making sure that VAWA not only paid lip service to DV but created concrete ways to save women's lives.
I have had the opportunity help undocumented women abused by their US citizen spouses. Because of VAWA, these women could begin new, safe lives away from the men who had raped, beaten, and attempted to kill them. VAWA is about the only development in recent federal policy I'm proud of. And Biden was critical to it.
Biden has his share of annoying attributes and ability to say insulting things to his allies. But once Obama gets elected, there is no one I'd rather have in the executive branch making sure that Obama's rhetoric is translated into concrete, positive legislation. I think that Biden could really work with Republicans (who will probably have more than 40 seats and therefore be able to filibuster anything they want) to get realistic legislation through.
Also, its worth pointing out that Biden is within the mainstream of US Catholics, who generally DO NOT share the views of the reactionary leadership. Most US Catholics use birth control, do not believe abortion should be criminalized (which is very different from saying it is morally correct), and defend the dignity of gay and lesbian people. The many Catholics who are deeply committed to fighting poverty, racism, and inequality should be excited.
davenj commented at August 23, 2008 3:30 PM: "I think what Mina meant to say was this: if Obama alienates the traditional democratic base of voters by not involving women in the process or moving too far to the center he risks losing voters who would traditionally heavily favor his party.
"They may not switch over to McCain, but that they don't vote at all, or vote for a third party candidate, could be enough for McCain to win."
Pretty much, but I was thinking less about Obama risking losing this election than about us risking McCain winning this election...
"I am... underwhelmed."
I am this too.
I agree with Mina (and Nerdypants) on our choice (and his).
Still I am underwhelmed.
Biden represents a very "safe" co-pilot. Its more in comparison to McCain's running mate, Romney, that you really begin to feel moved towards the polls in November.
so much for change