10/21/08

A double-standard?

Can you imagine if Sarah Palin said "When the stock market crashed in 1929, President Roosevelt got on television and told everyone to calm down"? Can you? Can you? It would be pandemonium!

Now Biden has said this: "We"re about to elect a brilliant 47-year old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it's gonna happen. I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate. And he's gonna need help."

This is the downside of Biden, straying off-message. Especially by being too into himself and not the good promoter of the top of the ticket.

In the end it doesn't matter. The economy is the main issue, and unless we bomb Iran soon, foreign policy is not going to reach the top of voters' concerns.

I've always liked Biden. He gets a pass on the silly comments because he's been around and knows his stuff. So doesn't he deserve a pass? Palin, one could argue, does not. But it still is a double-standard.

Biden was a great pick because it showed Obama being serious about being president. It was a pick with a view to governing, not to winning. I think in the end a running-mate who is a gimmick (Palin) doesn't help you. The political advantage of a running-mate comes when the political advantage is secondary to governing. Reagan picked Bush, Clinton picked Gore, W picked Cheney, and now Obama picks Biden.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

This no longer seems like a race. McCain is pulling out of Colorado (a must win state for him) and going after PA??? a state that voted for Gore & Kerry. PA also had a huge boost in Registered Democrats because they actually factored into the Dem. primary in April. This is a ridiculous strategy. McCain has a better shot at winning all of NM, CO, OH, VA, FL, and MO than winning PA. It's kinda like a football team down by 17 with 5 minutes left and no timeouts in the fourth quarter of a playoff game. You've got to recover 2 onside kicks and score 3 times to win - a near impossibility!

Anonymous said...

There have been many cases of double standards.
Just because Obama denouces something on his website does not mean it is truthful.
Why can democrats of any ilk challenge Sarah Palin character to this day and yet when the shoe is on the other foot by asking about Obama character in his past relationships it is considered "negative" politics. That's bull.
I am not sure why McCain let's some of the things said about his record stand. When they attack "Bush's" tax plan and link McCain to it by saying it gave money back to the wealthy where is the reality check. Everyone in America, low to upper class got direct child tax credits. All levels of income got a reduction in the percentage of what they paid in income taxes. The end result was that the higher income people still paid a higher 35% in taxes than those beneath them. When will our candidates stop talking about taxes and clearly explain how they intend to cut government? After all every American has to keep there spending within the limits of what they bring in in income. Why is the congress any different? Also, note for all voters.....The House of Representatives controls the money. Look up the constitution. They set the budget not the President.

Anonymous said...

obama is a fraud......nothing more.

Unknown said...

Watch5:02PMJul 7th 2008
EACH OF THESE "HISTORICAL FIGURES" COULD NOT HAVE ACHIEVED WHAT THEY
HAVE LEFT FOR MANKIND IF IT WERE NOT THIS ONE THING IN COMMON:

THE WHOLE COUNTRY WENT NUTS AFTER THEM IN BIG RALLIES AFTER RALLIES!

jssmi7659:32PMJul 6th 2008

A year ago I heard a speach by a Democratic candidate. It sent chills
down my spine, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. After the
speach I muted the tv, I told my friend "I have heard speaches like
that before... but I can't quite remember where", then it hit me and
I understood why my senses were alerted, I remembered where I had
heard talk like that before, where I had seen a speaker like that
before. The speaker of whom I was reminded was a man named Adolf
Hitler, yes, I speak German, the one who reminded me of him??? I knew
nothing of Barack Obama or his views at that time, but I know him
now.
Totalitarionism comes in many forms, racism and intolerance can come
from any person. When ANY man feels he is above others, that his
opinions and his views are the only worthy ones, that man is truly a
danger to ANY republic, to ANY free society. Look at his voting
record, for all his talk of bringing the country together, Obama has
never reached out himself. He DOES want the country united, but ONLY
if it is united to HIS views. Sounds like a few men we already know,
men who also knew how to excite and incite a crowd, men with silver
tongues... Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, [MAO TZE DONG], Francisco
Franco, Benito Mussolini, Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, the
list is long.

********************************************************************************

WHILE THE MARXISTS IS OUT THERE RANTING AND RAVING ALA CASTRO AND
CHAVEZ, I ASK AGAIN HOW IS HE GOING TO DO ANYTHING GOOD FOR AMERICA
WHEN HE COULD NOT EVEN EFFECTUATE POSITIVE CHANGE IN CHICAGO?

Doug said...

There is no doubt that there is a double standard in the mainstream news media. What amazes me is how audacious they are about supporting the Democrats and then claim they are objective. Joe Biden is an idiot. His comments about FDR and the depression is one thing but having FDR on TV! Damn! If Sarah Pallin had said that the press would have been on her like paranoia.

Anonymous said...

Okay, think about all those movies you've seen where the "everyman" is thrust into the spotlight. He's asked what he would do to save the day. (Think Jimmy Stewart or Harrison Ford or Ugly Betty or a hundred others). And the protagonist comes out with an answer that's true, right on, common sensible, insightful, well-informed and just what we need to hear. Now consider Sarah Palin. Thrust into the spotlight. Polls spike. We all await what she has to say. And then Katie Couric asks her a question.
No wonder McCain is dead meat.

Anonymous said...

Take a weekend drive through the inner city of Chicago & see the change that is coming to America! The people wallow in crime, drugs and poverty and the solution: A multi-billion dollar Abortion Megacenter. Obama's solution to eliminate poverty = eliminate the poor!

Sara said...

Bidens' comments about the Constitutional sources of the Vice President's duties was another terrible mistake - it was the kind of statement that people were expecting or dreading Sarah Palin to let slip and essentially end her candidacy (and it would have, if she had said it): "The idea [Cheney] doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that's the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. ... Everyone should understand that. And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit.
...The idea he's part of the Legislative Branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney..." (Article One, of course, deals with the Legislative Branch, and it does outline the office of the VP, while Article Two doesn't explain any duties of the VP, and certainly doesn't say anything about the primary role of the VP being advisor to the president). If Palin had made such a mistake about the Constitution she never would have been forgiven, but Biden, of course, got away with it.

Anonymous said...

Sara, Actually Biden is correct in the following highly possible scenario - perhaps he knows what's coming...
Obama hires a hitman and knocks off some Supreme Court Justices - packing the court with Socialists. Even if discovered, the Dems. will not impeach their savior. Obama becomes dictator with power over both Congress and the Supreme Court. The Constitution no longer matters and Biden assumes his role of advising the only one with power in the government - Obama.

Anonymous said...

The problem with you republicans is that you have not had a qualified, charismatic leader come along. The democrats have this leader in Barack Obama. I am tired of hearing about him becoming a Stalin or Hitler. If any of you have had a leadership class, you would understand that Obama holds many of the traits of a successful leader. Of course he will have to prove that, as would McCain. Neither have been in the executive office. I applaud Obama and how he treats his family. McCain on the other hand....

Unknown said...

The GOP should be upset with themselves. McCain is the worst person to represent the GOP. Why is it he never speaks about his own policies? He always speaks about against Obama instead of selling his on policies. Does he have a stance on anything? The American people are tired of all the mud slinging!

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