Jackson Free Press

In 2006, the Jackson Free Press drove then-presidential hopeful Senator Joe Biden around the city to get him off the beaten path and talk about issues facing everyday Mississippians. Due to his election as vice president, we are moving the narrative of that visit back to the top of the site for an encore

The folks who set up the Jackson Free Press' exclusive interview with Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware suggested we take him somewhere hip and trendy, to show off Jackson. I said I preferred to show him the Jackson that gets less attention, if that was OK. They said they'd send a driver; I could provide the route. When photographer Kate Medley and I met Biden at the Cabot Lounge on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, he had just come from a Mississippi College Law School softball game in Clinton. He was displaying his signature grin and apologizing for being late. His chief of staff, Danny O'Brien, told us we'd probably have 20 minutes with him, maybe 30. "Let's go then," I said, a bit disgruntled by how little time we'd have for my tour. I told driver Kate Jacobson, a Millsaps student: "Head downtown, then turn right on Amite street, then onto Farish."

We loaded up into the SUV. As we headed toward downtown and Biden started talking, Belhaven had probably never looked lovelier. The azalea trees were in bloom; it was a day real-estate folks dream about.

Sen. Biden, 63, began by telling us he had flown in earlier from Florida. "I did a fund-raising event for myself (there), attempting to see if I could put together enough money to run (for president) in '08," he said.

Without prompting, as we passed Baptist Hospital, Biden started talking about our state. "I know it sounds corny, but it's nice being back in Mississippi." Biden said he has an unusual history with Mississippi because he was close friends with former Sens. John Stennis and James O. Eastland--not exactly the most progressive senators Mississippi has ever put up, especially Dixiecrat Eastland, who helped lead the vicious fight against ending Jim Crow in the South.

Biden, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 when he was 29, served on the Judiciary Committee with Eastland. Later, Biden would take the reins as chairman of the powerful committee, presiding for 16 years until Republicans again became the majority party in 2002.

As we neared Amite Street, Biden told me he was addicted to politics from early in his life back in New Castle County, Del. "As a young kid, I was a junkie, you know in politics, particularly Southern politics," he said. And even though the Yankee might not have seen eye-to-eye with Eastland on every point, his knowledge of rich and divisive Southern politics made him a bit obsessed with the senator from Sunflower County.

"I'd go back to Senator Eastland's office every Tuesday after a Judiciary Committee meeting, and his office was cater-cornered from the committee meeting room. And he'd sit there and chew on a cigar. He would have one small glass of Chivas. You know, he would leave just a little tiny bit in the bottom of the glass," Biden said, beaming at the memory.

Stennis also befriended Biden when he arrived in the Senate. Biden's wife and daughter had been killed in a car accident in December 1972 after a tractor-trailor broadsided them while they were Christmas shopping. "My two boys were badly injured, and I had no desire to go to the Senate," Biden remembered. But he did, sworn in next to his sons' hospital beds.

The elder senator reached out to Biden immediately. "We became close friends. I mean, I was the kid. ... He was an incredible guy. And now I have his office."

'It Freed My Soul'

"I have the famous table (from Stennis' office) that is pictured in 'The Master of the Senate,' the book about (Lyndon) Johnson. If we had time, I'd tell you that story," Biden said as we passed the Jackson Marriott. I still hadn't asked a question, and the clock was ticking, but I was curious about his story of the man who had helped put me through college.

"When I was at Mississippi State, I was a Stennis Scholar," I said. "He helped me afford it."

"Well, he was a hell of a guy." As we turned onto Farish Street, he told the story about the table. When he first arrived at the Senate, he went to pay respect to "the old bulls of the Senate," including Stennis, he said. "He used this great big conference table as his desk. He had 12 leather chairs around it. He said, "Sit down, son, sit down, sit down. So I sat down, and we exchanged pleasantries. And the next thing he said was, 'Son, what made you run for United States Senate?' Like a damn fool I told him the exact truth without thinking about it. I said, 'Civil rights, sir.'

"As soon as I did, I swear to God I began to get these beads of sweat on my head, and it was like, 'Oh geez, what have I said?' He looked at me and he said, 'Good, good, good,' and that was the end of the conversation." Biden left Stennis' office believing he had said the wrong thing to a man not exactly known as a civil-rights leader.

Eighteen years later, Biden had moved up in the ranks, and Stennis was retiring. "He was closing up after about 40 years there." His staff wanted him to look at Stennis' o;he found Stennis sitting there in a wheelchair; he had lost one of his legs to a cancerous tumor. He was sitting at his huge table-desk staring out the window toward the Supreme Court. "He looked up, and he said 'Joe, sit down, sit down.' Then he stunned me. 'I want to tell you now what I wanted to tell you the first time you came to see me."

As Biden's words rushed out, he was glancing left and right at Farish Street, at the facades of crumbling buildings, the murals of hope. We stopped across from the Alamo Theater and sat as he finished the story about Stennis and his table: "He put his hand on that desk and that table, and he started caressing it. He said, 'You see this table and chair? This table was the flagship of the Confederacy from 1954 to 1968. Senator (Richard B.) Russell had (representatives from) the Confederate states sit here every Tuesday to plan the demise of the Civil Rights Movement. We lost, and it's good we lost."

"Then he looked at me," Biden continued, "and I got chills when he said: 'It's time this table goes from the possession of a man against civil rights to a man for civil rights.'

"I said, 'Mr. Chairman, I'm honored,' and we spoke a few more seconds. When I got to the door, he said, 'One more thing, Joe.' He turned in his wheelchair, and he said, 'The Civil Rights Movement did more to free the white man than the black man.' I said, 'How's that, Mr. Chairman?' He went like this." Biden held his fist over his heart and quoted Stennis: 'It freed my soul. It freed my soul.'"

"You tell stories like a Southerner," I said to Biden, as we jumped out of the SUV, with some 15 minutes gone already.

'From Delaware?'

Almost immediately, a woman wearing extremely high yellow heels jumped out of a Camaro parked on the sidewalk in front of Peaches. "Excuse me, is that Mr. Biden?" she called out.

"Yes, it is."

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"What's your name?" he responded, walking over to her.

"Anita Gregory. It's a pleasure to meet you, Senator." Her car had a Sunflower County plate; she said she lives in Indianola.

After visiting with Gregory, Biden turned toward Peaches. Gregory told me as he walked away: "I like him. He's nice. Believe it or not, I am a big news freak. My girlfriend is an attorney, and she called me yesterday and told me Senator Biden was going to be in town. I wanted to go see him. Does he know about Peaches Restaurant?"

I nodded toward the restaurant, where he was surrounded by people, and someone had turned up the blues jukebox a bit louder.

Owner Roderick Ephram didn't recognize Biden as he extended his hand. "Joe Biden. I am a senator from the state of Delaware. How you doing, man?"

"From Delaware," Ephram said, as he shook the senator's hand.

The son of Miss Peaches told the senator his mother had opened the restaurant back in 1961. "That's when I graduated, man," Biden responded. (From high school. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, and from Syracuse College of Law in 1968.)

I noticed with a bit of surprise how Biden's ease made him seem almost Clinton-esque without the drawl.

"They got me down here from Delaware trying to figure out how to get some money in here," Biden told the men.

"From Delaware," another man said. "I got a tour coming up in Delaware in August."

"August? I'm like a poor relative. Man, I'll show up for it. Where are you gonna be?" Biden pulled out a notebook and took down the information. "What's your name again?"

As Biden and I continued walking down Farish, I asked him why he was in Mississippi "in flyover country"?

"I can't govern as president if I win unless I can compete in a dozen so-called red states. I'm not saying I can win Mississippi, but I've got to be able to do well in Mississippi. How do you govern when the whole middle of this country's red, and you lose it 70-30? Everything I care about from a national energy policy, energy independence, to making sure that every kid in America can go to college, to national health care, they all require consensus. Not one of them lends itself to a 51-percent solution."

Biden said that his party makes a huge mistake by ignoring Mississippi because they do not believe it's winnable. "I'm out to prove to myself and to prove to my party that we can come to Mississippi, and we can get 45 to 48 percent of the vote. Maybe even win it if things are as bad as these guys are doing it now. You follow me? If you can't do that, how the hell do you govern?"

'… I'm a Fool, Too'

Over the last year, Biden said, he has spent much time in South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida, and is increasing visits to Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee—tough red states for Democrats. "I'm trying to convince the party that we can't keep up this policy that (Karl) Rove suckered us into—just win one more state; if we can just win Florida, we win the presidency."

Besides, he said, "I do not believe this country is as divided culturally or on faith as they make it out to be. I'm of the view that if Bill Clinton, with all his problems, had been able to run again in 2000, he would've won Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee. He may not have won Mississippi. He didn't win it the first time. But my point is this is not just a divided nation. This woman right here, and the three of you (pointing to Gregory and the women in our entourage), whatever your interests and concerns are individually, you are no damned different than women similarly situated in my state."

"We get ignored during the elections," I said.

"Exactly right. Sure, you do."

I then asked him if he knew that in the last presidential election, 62 percent of Mississippians under 30 voted for Kerry.

"Yes," he said. "That's why I went to the law school. People would say to me, 'Why the hell would you come all the way down to Jackson and go speak to 100 kids playing softball?' Hey look, I refuse to believe that we Democrats are permanently out of the South. The South is changing. It's changing big time. Your state is changing."

In particular, Democrats should take the black vote in the state much more seriously, he said. "You have the largest (percentage of) African Americans in the country. And by the way, there is a vibrant black middle class in America. I just refuse to say we can't compete here. And my party's basically said that in the last two races."

"I agree with you, but people say I'm a fool for saying that," I said to Biden.

"Yeah, they think I'm a fool, too," he said with a chuckle.

As the senator—a Scorpio—and I ambled back toward the SUV, he seemed reluctant to leave Farish. I talked about how both parties overlook voters who are not "conservative—who call themselves "independent," or don't vote at all. How can you get disenchanted young people—especially young people of color—to turn out to vote?

"Just by being here. I want them to see me. I want them to touch, to feel. I want them to find out. People can tell. They can tell authenticity and fake. If I come down here, and people don't respond to me, I shouldn't be the nominee. I've got to go out and talk to the folks. I saw the look on your face when that woman said, 'Senator Biden.' You were kind of surprised. Wherever I go in the country, the amount of support I have in the black community is real. There's hardly a city anywhere you go where a black cab driver will charge me. … People know your comfort level. I've got to get down here and have the African-American community see me." He added that a large portion of his support in Delaware comes from black voters—that it is a constituency with which he can communicate.

"The point I want to make is that an African American on this street faces the same damn problems an African American faces on French Street in Wilmington, Delaware. But also, if we're smart, we can face the same opportunities. There's no reason it has to be this way. I think the country is ready."

We returned to the SUV—with O'Brien crestfallen there was no time to dine at Peaches—and Biden turned to education.

"I bet there's not a single, solitary woman you will find in this neighborhood who has a child, that doesn't dream of that child going to college. Not a one. Why don't we have complete access to college for every qualified student? And forget the dollars. If you're below a certain income, the government pays for you to get there. Not just loan programs."

Such an approach to educating our citizens will be good for the bottom line, Biden said. "I mean the idea that we're going to compete in the 21st century with countries that have their students going to school three and four years longer than we do, and we're gonna just squander and say, 'Hey you can't make it; we can't figure how to get you there financially.' It's crazy."

Faith Is a Virtue

As the SUV drove slowly down Farish—the part not under renovation—toward Monument and then Fortification, Biden's head and his eyes started jerking side to side as we passed crumbling houses and broken-down cars. He kept talking, though.

"I just think that there's so much more. And one of the things that this administration does, it's united that black kid that just went by in that beat-up car with the white kid not far from here in terms of what chances they have. This society has grown into the haves and have-nots. We are killing the middle class. And people get it."

The scenery got tougher as the SUV slowly turned west on Fortification and then onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, bound for Lanier High School. I asked Biden what the Democratic Party must do to "de-wedge" politics, to bring the discussion back to real populist issues and away from divisive issues like abortion and gay marriage. He responded that the American people are with his party on real issues of health care, education and other populist messages—but believes Democrats must convince voters they can keep the country safe. "You don't get to get into the game presidentially unless you can ante up in the poker game of security. Not war—security. Do I believe this woman or man is tough? Do I believe they mean what they say, and they're going to protect me? That's number one."

Number two, the Catholic said, is that Democrats must stop allowing Republicans to pretend that they own religion—that somehow the party that represents the little guy is the part of "elitists." He continued: "We've got to negotiate the faith issue. It's a big deal." After all, he said, faith drove the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement among progressive Christians, Jews and people of other faiths. "We didn't have any reluctance sitting in the black church praising Jesus. So what happened all of a sudden in America?" he asked, shaking his head at the notion that Democrats do not embrace moral and religious values.

"The reason why I don't think many northerners fully understand the black community is that they don't get it. Faith is a big deal here. It's a big deal. Black churches have lost some of their power, but it's still a big deal. And so what do we communicate? The elites in our party communicated, whether it was intentional or otherwise, that we basically kind of look down our nose at people of faith. ... This is a nation of faith, not religion. Faith. Faith in a God. Faith in there being a deity. Faith in the notion that there's an afterlife. Faith in believing that there's a relationship with what you believe about God and how you act as an individual.

"I think people want to know that their president is guided by his sense of faith—not out there saying the Lord told me this is what I should do," he added, making a not-subtle reference to President Bush's statements about getting instructions directly from God.

Biden said he was on "Real Time with Bill Maher," when the conversation turned to faith. "I said, look, I want a president who, after he makes a life and death decision, walks out of that Oval Office, says a little prayer and says, 'God, I hope I did it right.' I don't want a president who prays and says, 'Lord, tell me which way to go, and I've seen the light.' I don't trust people who are the only people who've seen God."

"I'm a product of my faith," Biden added. "And we Democrats by our body language, I think, have sort of distanced ourselves from what the average American is. Black or white, rich or poor. … All they want to know is what's your center: Is there something about who you are that makes you realize that (there is) something much bigger than you?"

Progressive people of faith, Biden said, must talk back to "guys who abuse power telling me they're Christians, and (that) they're more moral and decent. We don't fight back."

But, he added, don't fret over labels such as "liberal": "You don't fight the fight over a phrase. You fight the fight over the principle. So I'm not up for arguing whether I'm liberal or not. What I want to talk about is being humane. I want to talk about fair. I want to talk about decency—everything from Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and college scholarships to programs that (help our) neighborhoods."

Delaware, Miss.

In front of Lanier High School, Biden and I walked to the front of the building, as a young man in a car with fancy rims slowed down in front to watch. "Hey, man, how you doing?" Biden called at him.

"This is Senator Biden," I added. "He's running for president."

"A Mississippi senator?" the young man asked.

"I'm from Delaware," Biden said.

"Delaware, Mississippi?" the young man returned.

"No, plain old Delaware, the state!" Biden said.

As the young man laughed and drove away, the senator said to me, "By the way, there are about 20 cities named Delaware. There is a Delaware, Mississippi."

I told Biden that I had brought him to Lanier, one of our city's poorest high schools, to talk about "No Child Left Behind." He nodded, saying that he had signed Bush's high-stakes education act, but believing that it would be fully funded—Republicans have consistently rolled back money to pay for the problems that the act, with its focus on testing, is designed to reveal.

"A congressman from Philadelphia (Pa.) and I introduced an amendment (to NCLB) saying that if you're going to hold kids to the same standard, give them the same amount of money. I lay 8 to 5 (odds) that this school probably gets one-quarter, one-sixth, maybe one-third if they're lucky, of what a white middle-class or upper-middle-class school district (in the area) gets." NCLB also punishes teachers, he said. "That's why they don't want to come and teach here. You're going to get graded based upon whether you bring a class that is so far behind the rest of the country up to the average or not. Why not go to the other high school and the neighborhood we just went through (in North Jackson)? There you're only lifting two pounds instead of 200 pounds."

Biden, whose wife Jill is a public-school teacher, said there should be federal education standards—and consistent ways to identify whether certain schools are up to standard. "But I think it's necessary for the standards to reflect the place from which you start. So there's gotta be a baseline."

I said to the senator that NCLB seems designed to identify the worst schools—and then punish them rather than help. Instead, he said, the standards should start with each school's baseline of achievement. Then, "give me a goal."

"In a school like the one you just described to me as an all-black school in a poor neighborhood with, I expect, relatively low per-pupil funding, the staff could raise the standards by 25 percent in a particular year, but still be 50 percent below what the federal standard requires." Compare that, he said, to working in an affluent high school where meeting the standard only requires a 2 percent improvement. Of the two scenarios, "you reward the teacher who brings it up 2 percent and punish the teacher that brings it up 25 percent?"

The answer, he said, is to "either come up with the difference in the money or account for the difference in the standard." He added: "I would 1) fund it, and 2) move in the direction of relative judgments, keeping the goal."

Biden emphasized that he believes in high standards—and tackling the attitudes that certain kids cannot learn. "I think we made a mistake in the '70s and '80s when we decided to teach down to blacks and teach down to Hispanics and teach down to poor whites." He quoted his mother, Katherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden: 'Children tend to become that what you expect of them.' If you treat African-American children or economically deprived children in a way that you conclude you're going to teach down to them and not hold them to the same standard as you hold all children, you're doing them a great disservice. But the flip of that is you have to have the resources. You can't expect them to meet the standard if you're not actually teaching them. They need the same quality teachers teaching them with the same quality equipment, the same quality environment."

Dumbing Down: Not Cool

By the same token, Biden said he believes that the culture that education is somehow "uncool" must be changed: "You (shouldn't) have to dumb yourself down in order to be accepted. … And that's why, even though I've been very out front on civil rights my whole career, that's why I never bought in to this ebonics stuff. I don't buy the notion that you should not prepare children for the world they're going to live in."

Biden said he rejects the idea that there is any barrier for learning for immigrant children, black children, poor children that cannot be overcome with determination: They must be made to believe and given opportunities. "But you've got to demand it. (What) bothers me about No Child Left Behind is the part that was supposed to be there is not. (We should) make up for the lack of resources through this legislation to put that black child, put that poor white child, put that poor Hispanic child on the same footing to learn as you did the middle class or upper middle class white child. That's the part that's the travesty. We don't do that."

As we returned to the hotel over an hour after we left, cutting off the rest of my West Jackson itinerary to make up for our lingering, Biden emphasized that young people must be taught that they have to do their part. "There's no easy way through it. My message to black males is, hey look, I got it, I understand, you were deprived. You had no father. … But guess what. There's a way out, and it's gonna be really hard. It's really hard, but it can be done. It doesn't work the other way. You just continue to go under the same spiral."

Biden said he realizes "it's a hard, hard sell," especially coming from a northeastern white man with many more opportunities, and family wealth, starting out. "I say, well yeah, you think everything's been handed to me, and I started off a hell of a lot further ahead of the curve than you did. But how many of you stuttered so badly that you couldn't even walk up to a girl in 9th grade and ask her to go out on a date without feeling like an idiot? How many of you have lost your family? I'm not the same as you. You have it a lot worse than me. But don't assume that everything's (been easy)."

Still, it is up to those of us who can to reach out to those who need our help, he said. "You gotta give a hand. You can't just demand and walk away. You can't demand and hold the standards without recognizing the disadvantage from which it started. I don't have the answers, but I do know I have faith. I have faith it will change."

As we all crawled out of the SUV, Biden kept talking about why he has faith. "Why the hell would you keep doing what I do or you do if you didn't think you could (bring) change?" he asked me, pulling in about three inches from my face. "Why would you do it?"

For the record, we hear that O'Brien returned to Peaches later that night for fried chicken and candied yams. For more info on Sen. Biden's platform, visit http://www.joebiden.com.

This story and all quotes contained within are Copyright 2006 Jackson Free Press. Any portion or quote must be expressly attributed to the Jackson Free Press. Photos Copyright 2006 Kate Medley.

Previous Comments

ID

79741

Comment

Biden may not believe in labels but I'd have to call him a socialist. "Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and college scholarships to programs that help our neighborhoods." Oh my! More tax dollars right? Did he have time to talk about reforming some of the problems with these institutions? And, what's wrong with consulting God BEFORE making a life and death decision?

Author

The Red Baron

Date

2006-05-04T00:54:20-06:00

ID

79742

Comment

Which test did he cheat on? Did he and Ted collaborate? Did it take more than the two of them? If not, whose sheets did they look on. I did, I admit, instruct how to spell one of their names. Will they call me on that? Which toilet at UVA is their sheet under?

Author

MAllen

Date

2006-05-04T01:28:04-06:00

ID

79743

Comment

The Red Baron writes: And, what's wrong with consulting God BEFORE making a life and death decision? A wise man once told me that if you talk to God you're religious, but if God talks back you need meds. So if you pray for guidance, that's great. But if you wake up the next morning and say "God has given me guidance, and the decision I'm about to make is divinely sanctioned," that's not a sound way to make life-and-death decisions. I mean, what happens if it goes wrong? Do you pass the buck to God? "Oh, well--13.7 billion years of ruling the universe and you're bound to screw the pooch from time to time!" I'd rather see politicians blame themselves for their mistakes. Not that I'm convinced Bush has ever actually experienced the whole visions-and-locutions thing, at least in his clean-and-sober years. I think the God-talks-to-me business is just rhetoric he puts out there for the sake of his base. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-05-04T01:47:10-06:00

ID

79744

Comment

Great interview, BTW. I like Biden. I like Feingold more, but I like Biden. If he were top-ticket, I think he'd stand a very good chance of winning. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-05-04T01:49:20-06:00

ID

79745

Comment

... Biden emphasized that young people must be taught that they have to do their part. “There’s no easy way through it. My message to black males is, hey look, I got it, I understand, you were deprived. You had no father. … But guess what. There’s a way out, and it’s gonna be really hard. It’s really hard, but it can be done. It doesn’t work the other way. You just continue to go under the same spiral.” I really liked that part. RedBaron, I wouldn't see anything wrong with consulting God before making a life and death decision, but I'd wonder why this consultation isn't an everyday, ongoing thing. If you consult with God for the life and death decisions, but consult your cabinet or self on other items, there is an inherent imbalance. I'm not saying that we as humans don't follow that mold (and therefore, one can't JUDGE the president for doing that--I didn't care for Biden making reference to that, but that's part of my entire distaste of politics and election campaigns). Just saying that inconsistencies (once again, commonly observed in humans) take away from outside perception of one's sincerity. Tom Head says, "I think the God-talks-to-me business is just rhetoric he puts out there for the sake of his base." This is an example of one direction our perception can take based on a person's inconsistencies. This isn't a thread for it, but I feel that we have available to us a direct link with God for guidance, etc, and He will not be one to 'screw the pooch' from time to time. Hold up, where in the world did you get that saying from? lol

Author

lilsoulja

Date

2006-05-04T10:10:33-06:00

ID

79746

Comment

I actually saw the Bill Maher show in which he said that statement. It was extremely eloquent and funny when he said it. (when he was speaking about faith and politics) At the conclusion of that show I really, really liked him. You are correct in that he comes off very well.

Author

Lori G

Date

2006-05-04T10:33:35-06:00

ID

79747

Comment

"Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and college scholarships to programs that help our neighborhoods." Do you really think that's "socialism"? Maybe we ought to study up on some basics before moving forward with this conversation. Good Lord.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-05-04T10:55:43-06:00

ID

79748

Comment

Donna, I only expect this to be noted, but you have a very jagged edge when it comes to correcting folk. Grow a lil more patience with the less-informed. [yes, 'telling' you what to do on your own site, lol, don't bar me though]

Author

lilsoulja

Date

2006-05-04T14:05:07-06:00

ID

79749

Comment

I won't bar you ... for that, anyway. Actually, you're seeing my soft side. ;-) Seriously, there are certain things that I have *no* patience for, and have no intention of going easy on. One is the anti-intellectual garbage that more (a) ignorant or (b) conniving conservatives throw around in the name of "socialism" or "communism." They've been doing that crap in this state alone for decades, and it just breeds ignorance. I will call it out, and hard, every time I see it. Only a fool would try to say that health care, Social Security or college aid amount to "socialism." Soft enough for you? (grin)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-05-04T14:40:03-06:00

ID

79750

Comment

I have liked Biden for years. I have also felt for years he was trying to find the right time and platform to run for president. He reminds me of Clinton too to some degree. Needless to say, I love Clinton. He's the most talented man I ever met or heard about. Very comfortable around all kinds of people. Instead of the democrats running from him they should have been studying him. Take away the womanizing habit of his and you got a man of few peers. Take away the covers from many so-called glittering republicans and all you have left is a lying and perveted fraud. Yeah, I said it.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2006-05-04T15:00:04-06:00

ID

79751

Comment

Ouch! Maybe Biden's not a hard-core socialist yet. I just get tired of hearing about all these social programs that have all these problems. Consulting God is something we should all do each and every day. It shouldn't be for a political stunt and it shouldn't be in some wild and random Pat Robertson way. That's one good thing about God (also not the right thread for this). He's a very personal One that we can approach with our day-to-day problems and decisions.

Author

The Red Baron

Date

2006-05-05T10:08:09-06:00

ID

79752

Comment

I just get tired of hearing about all these social programs that have all these problems. I get tired of all the problems that don't get addressed that create the need for the social programs. Still doesn't make it "socialism."

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-05-06T15:48:17-06:00

ID

79753

Comment

well, how nice. It's about time a senator wises up and realizes you have to win more than 51%, realizes that states like Mississippi are important.

Author

casey

Date

2006-05-06T19:23:59-06:00

ID

79754

Comment

I could never vote for a man like Biden. He wants to ask God if he mad the right decesion after it's been made? The man has it all backwards. He should be asking God's advice before making his life and death choices. It is really sad to see a big time politican make the statement he made about God.

Author

nyview

Date

2006-05-08T11:08:17-06:00

ID

79755

Comment

If you think Biden's crazy, you should take a good look at Bush and Reagan, God torch his behind and soul.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2006-05-08T11:45:38-06:00

ID

79756

Comment

“I know it sounds corny, but it’s nice being back in Mississippi.” Biden said he has an unusual history with Mississippi because he was close friends with former Sens. John Stennis and James O. Eastland—not exactly the most progressive senators Mississippi has ever put up, especially Dixiecrat Eastland, who helped lead the vicious fight against ending Jim Crow in the South. Sound corny? not at all. It's the redneck m.o. of thinking. please continue, sir. "Needless to say, I love Clinton." You fall in love quick don't you? "He's the most talented man I ever met or heard about." Oh he's very clever. veeeerrrry clever. "Very comfortable around all kinds of people." Too bad most are as comfortable around him. "Instead of the democrats running from him they should have been studying him. Take away the womanizing habit of his and you got a man of few peers. " True. most shot-calling killers don't have many friends. "Take away the covers from many so-called glittering republicans and all you have left is a lying and perveted fraud. Yeah, I said it." Do the same with Clinton and you have the same thing, but worse. You should study up on Clinton a bit more. His "ways" will turn your stomach. Oh and "F" Biden. His tired chittlin'-circuit pre-campaign is disgusting.

Author

JSU

Date

2006-05-08T14:52:30-06:00

ID

79757

Comment

I just ran across this DailyKos diary about my Joe Biden piece above. Note those quotes on there are from this piece, and it has drawn more than 200 posts (not all very interesting, but many are). I'm happy that the piece created such discussion over there.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-06-21T22:48:21-06:00

ID

79758

Comment

Study up on Clinton for what, JSU? I'd probably be even more impressed. I'll admit a couple of my friend hates him. They think he's a low down dirty dog. I should add a third friend named D.L..

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2006-06-22T09:20:05-06:00

ID

133498

Comment

The official announcement e-mail that went out this morning: Donna -- I have some important news that I want to make official. I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate. Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois -- the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago. I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change. Please let Joe know that you're glad he's part of our team. Share your personal welcome note and we'll make sure he gets it: http://my.barackobama.com/welcomejoe Thanks for your support, Barack P.S. -- Make sure to turn on your TV at 2:00 p.m. Central Time to join us or watch online at http://www.BarackObama.com.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-23T09:54:01-06:00

ID

133500

Comment

Nominating the man who insulted you on the campaign trail as your Veep? Brilliant. Nominating the third-ranked liberal in Congress as your Veep? The man who makes Kirk Fordice look like a model of restraint and tact? Brilliant. This'll be good.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-08-23T11:13:47-06:00

ID

133502

Comment

Iron, you're so cute when you start the "liberal"-bashing. Haven't you heard? The Republican Party singlehandedly made "liberal" en vogue again. As for Biden's mouth, that will be be interesting. However, he said some *great* things in our interview with him above. I am, however, encouraged that Obama is trying to take the country to a place where verbal gaffes don't carry as much weight—depending on the apparent intent behind the remark, of course. It's one thing to say something awful that obviously reflects your views and say something in a wrong way that obviously doesn't. The country needs to be smart enough to tell the difference, and we need to slap down media that try to get us to play that nonsensical game. So, we'll see. This could be a good thing. My jury is out.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-23T12:00:04-06:00

ID

133503

Comment

Great article that I likely passed over a few years ago. Makes me like the guy a helluva lot better.

Author

David McCarty

Date

2008-08-23T12:32:43-06:00

ID

133505

Comment

I am, however, encouraged that Obama is trying to take the country to a place where verbal gaffes don't carry as much weight—depending on the apparent intent behind the remark, of course. Well, hmmm...I gotta think that ol' W has lowered that bar just a bit. And let's not forget that McCain's mouth gets him in his own sort of trouble -- things he can't remember like which are the Sunni and Shia and how many houses he has. Biden's got major cred with white working class voters in the rust belt and will probably make a play for Reagan Democrats and Hillary supporters that were on the fence for Barack. He's also got a resume that means he isn't an unknown quantity and he "plays" as the strong advisor in Cabinet meetings. In as much as he might be running against Chaney, he's the perfect foil. And he's tall. Oh, lord, just imagine if McCain picks Lieberman.

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-08-23T14:25:48-06:00

ID

133506

Comment

You know, just speaking for myself, the only problem I have with Biden--other than some specific elements of his legislative agenda, like the death penalty expansion in the '94 crime bill--is his tendency to say insensitive things on race. But he's running mate to the first major-party presidential nominee of color, so voting against the ticket because of his gaffes on race would seem silly, particularly given his amazing record on civil rights. Given the choice between a candidate who says the right thing and a candidate who does the right thing, I'll go with #2 any day. And the fact that Obama is willing to take him on despite his gaffes will play well with blue-collar voters who are worried Obama is too aloof and PC. It does great things for both his image and Biden's for them to pair up. Obama/Biden is a great ticket. I would have preferred Obama/Richardson or Obama/Lincoln, but given the options before us in the final days (Bayh, Kaine, Biden, Chet Edwards), Biden was by far the best of the pack. Most of all I'm glad Obama didn't follow the pattern of choosing a socially conservative Southern politician to "balance out" the ticket. One of the unexpected blessings of the John Edwards scandal might have been that it took him out of the running for the VP slot, where he could have done for Obama what he did for Kerry (i.e., nothing of consequence)...

Author

Tom Head

Date

2008-08-23T16:19:36-06:00

ID

133507

Comment

Oh, great interview, BTW. The last paragraph, in particular, is really powerful stuff... It's easy to imagine Biden saying that. Particularly bearing in mind that he has a negative net worth--$300,000 in the hole, poorest member of the Senate--so we know he's not in it for the money. And the NAACP leadership loves him. His gaffe took him out of the presidential race but it didn't set him back very far other than that, and IMHO shouldn't have. He's a rare senator. Very rare. His 80% lifetime ACLU rating (the highest of any presidential candidate not named Kucinich or McKinney) doesn't hurt, either...

Author

Tom Head

Date

2008-08-23T16:21:10-06:00

ID

133509

Comment

Here are more photos from our Biden interview/ride-along that Kate posted on her blog. In this one, you can see his passion as we were riding around. I was sitting next to him with a tape recorder and notebook; Kate Medley was in the front passenger's seat taking pictures, and Kate Jakobson was driving. That's Danny O'Brien in the very back seat behind us. He was great; at first, he wanted to keep Biden on schedule, and then he relaxed into it, realizing, I think, that Biden was enjoying the tour and the kind of conversation we were having. And thanks, Tom. The whole thing was quite powerful, especially the end. I think it was a different kind of interview for him; it was really more of a passionate conversation, really. And note that our frustrations with the way Democrats have "flown over" Mississippi, as well as ceding faith to a largely hypocritical GOP, have played out. This campaign is very different as a result, thankfully. A lot of the old wedge issues are simply off the table.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-24T11:34:36-06:00

ID

133510

Comment

Oh, and of course this is Anita Gregory in her yellow high heels. ;-) Kate's photography is the best. Come home, Kate! (She's in Atlanta now.)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-24T11:38:21-06:00

ID

133511

Comment

I don't know why, but Biden doesn't excite me. Of course, it will not affect my support for Obama one bit and I'm not saying I don't like Biden period. I don't know what it is, but I wouldn't chosen someone else before Biden.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2008-08-24T19:55:50-06:00

ID

133513

Comment

I think Biden's a great choice and one I didn’t anticipate before last week. When I first heard Biden’s name floated last month I thought it was a smart choice but unlikely to happen given that it appeared to run counter to the anti-Washington change message that was the heart of Obama’s campaign, and given Biden’s own criticisms of and gaffe about Obama.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2008-08-25T07:20:24-06:00

ID

133518

Comment

Biden is a good choice. However my opinion of him dipped in recent years due to his flip mouth without knowing the right things to say. That romance about the desk of Senator Stennis turned my stomach since Stennis was a horrible Mississippi racist. Biden will never regain my full respect until he successfully explain the quip about Obama not being qualified and McCain is for president. That was another stupid comment by an arrogant white boy. It wasn't honest or intelligent, it was typical jealous, grandiose smart-ass white boy.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-25T07:51:05-06:00

ID

133522

Comment

Bill and Hillary did all they could to lose any chance at that slot or position. Obama's run made Bill and Hill reveal their true natures, it seems. So too will it make others, as well. I must admit that the republicans, by and large, have kept their racist comments and feelings within the party, their homes and cirlces. Be not fooled though, their kind of racism will show at the polls in November. Hopefully, the majority of people have overcomed that disease.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-25T08:17:09-06:00

ID

133525

Comment

Baquan, I predict part of the Republican strategy to throw off the undecided will be to suggest that if Biden is so much more seasoned and experienced (using Biden's own words) and ready to take on Juan McSame than Obama, why isn't he at the top of the ticket?

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2008-08-25T08:35:20-06:00

ID

133529

Comment

I'm still amused that after all that talk about change, Obama picks someone who's been in congress since Obama was Seven! Heck, he's been there longer than McCain has been by a decade, at least. I still don't think it'll help the democrats.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-08-25T08:51:40-06:00

ID

133540

Comment

In the FWIW department, NOW-PAC has enthusiastically endorsed the Obama/Biden ticket now and says that Biden is an excellent choice for VP. They had been arguing against Bayh, Kaine, and Webb. I'd say the anti-Obama PUMAs fall into three categories: (A. Committed racists who are voting against Obama, consciously or subconsciously, because he's a black man. We know these voters exist, but we don't know how many there are. This category intersects with the three below.) 1. Blue dogs, conservative independents, and Republicans who don't ordinarily vote in Democratic presidential primaries, but flipped over to oppose Obama because the Republican race was resolved early. Note that Clinton won most of her primaries only after McCain locked in the nomination, so these voters had nothing else to do. These and largely folks who always vote Republican in national tickets anyway, so no major loss. 2. Hardcore feminists who are PO'd right now, but will come around as November approaches and they realize how bad a McCain administration would be for women. 3. Hardcore feminists who may or may or may not be PO'd, but are excited by one of the two third-party tickets (Green and Socialist) headed up by women of color. My suspicion is that #1 is the biggest category, followed by #2, and that #3 is the smallest. I suppose I could add a category #4 made up of hardcore feminists who plan to vote for McCain, but nobody who actually votes for McCain could be accurately described as a hardcore feminist. Seriously, it's that stark. The guy wants to ban abortion, strike down the constitutional interpretation that prevented bans on birth control, sex toys, and gay/lesbian sex, and on top of everything else he opposes the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. There are some feminist arguments that could be made against Obama, but there is no real feminist argument that could be made for McCain and anyone who votes for him in protest against Obama would almost have to be motivated purely by racism and/or spite. I don't think very many of these so-called feminists exist; I've never met one.

Author

Tom Head

Date

2008-08-25T09:36:01-06:00

ID

133541

Comment

I don't know why, but Biden doesn't excite me. Of course, it will not affect my support for Obama one bit and I'm not saying I don't like Biden period. I don't know what it is, but I wouldn't chosen someone else before Biden. So far there hasn't been much excitement about Biden according to this poll. But that doesn't mean much now. We'll see how effective Biden will be in his role as the attack dog and the bridge to white working-class voters and whether that translates into increased support for Obama.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2008-08-25T09:40:37-06:00

ID

133554

Comment

Rev. Nutscutter compares Obama to Jackie Robinson: http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/12798 I think he makes some interesting observations.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2008-08-25T11:11:34-06:00

ID

133555

Comment

Biden can't win the south nor can he change the minds of the hardcore working class whites who think part of their racial duty or purpose is to make sure blacks stay in their places - the bottom of the well. Even Hillary and Bill couldn't win the south although they came very close to playing openly the race matter. I admit I wanted Obama to pick someone who could reach some of these kinds of people. However, Id be surprised if Biden reached any significant portion of them because they have been fooled into thinking he's a liberal as if that's the real devil instead of them and the republicans. Did Biden reach them as he personally ran for president? Mind you, it is the concocted devil in their screwed up world which is why race-baiting politicans can hook them hook line and sinker merely by saying Biden is a lover of blacks or liberalism. It doesn't even have to be true to work. If Biden can help significantly in other regions of the country he will have done his job. I'm also worried Biden will on occasions try to upstage Obama unless he learns soon to think as the number 2 man instead of the number one. As to Hiilary's supporters, I hope they vote for Obama in the end, but won't be surprised if they don't. One of the thing we have to always remember about white women generally is that while they don't have the violent history of racism against blacks, many are quite racist. How can you explain as many as 5,000.00 of them once holding membership in the ku klux klan, the constant discrimination by white women in the work place against black women and men and the lack of any real or significant effort to stop, impede or reduce the racist ways of their white male counterpart. Too often the white female has felt it was her rightful place to receive any affirmative action, largesse or hard-fought power along side or instead of the white man, despite most of them refusing to play any noticeable role in civil rights or the women suffrage movement. Irrespective of the foregoing, I have met some amazing white women who unfortunately are too few in numbers for any of us to start deceiving ourselves about where they stand politically, socially or racially.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-25T11:15:58-06:00

ID

133556

Comment

Walt, that little diatribe is just about the most offensive thing I've seen on here. It's the reason the democrats have had problems leading this nation, all the liberal democrats can offer is undiluted hate and class warfare. Republicans may have their faults, but at least they didn't openly dance with the KKK after democratic conventions.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-08-25T11:25:19-06:00

ID

133557

Comment

Jeff, I think that is Revern Cut His Nuts' Son who made those comments, unless my reading is off or I don't know which Jessie is the junior.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-25T11:26:01-06:00

ID

133558

Comment

Heck, he's been there longer than McCain has been by a decade, at least. True, but he got there when he was 29. ;-) What was it he said during his speech Saturday—he has the fourth highest seniority, but nearly half the Senate is older than he is? Or, something like that. I don't think McCain's "age" issue is about seniority in the Senate. I think it's about being out of touch and, well, old. In many ways, the Obama-Biden ticket is very attractive. It is led by someone new and dynamic, who hasn't been in D.C. long enough to be corrupted by it. And it is supplemented by someone who brings the advantage of experience and success getting things done in Washington. McCain supporters are going to despise whomever Obama picks, so let's stipulate that and ignore what they say because it doesn't add anything to anything. But this is an interesting choice. Having spent a bit of time in intense conversation with Biden, I believe that he is sincere and very intelligent and compassionate in ways that really matter. We could do much, much worse for a vice president, and indeed have in recent years, Al Gore excepted. (Although I wish Gore would have found his groove a bit sooner, but that's a different topic.) Besides, I believe Obama and his campaign team are smarter than most of us here put together about what he needs to do politically. So I leave it in their hands and go into this Convention very, very excited about the possibilities for our future. It feels good to feel hopeful and proud of a presidential candidate after all these ugly years we just went through.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-25T11:28:02-06:00

ID

133559

Comment

Ironghost am I factually wrong? If so, please set forth the manner and facts that are incorrect. Do you have anything besides emotionalism to ever add? And will you ever accept the truth for what it is?

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-25T11:28:35-06:00

ID

133561

Comment

Biden can't win the south nor can he change the minds of the hardcore working class whites who think part of their racial duty or purpose is to make sure blacks stay in their places - the bottom of the well. Walt -- why would you want someone who "could reach these kinds of people" even in the Democratic Party? Biden is a bulldog and he'll play well in the rust belt. If anyone is going to win a Southern state it's the man at the top of the ticket. Don't count him out. And, Walt, I'm with you that this is your opinion, but I think you're arguing from the specific to the general. That's your right, and I offer you great latitude in that opinion, but remember that *millions* voted in the Dem primaries. In national polling, about 20% of those who voted for Hillary are saying they're not voting for Obama. Recall that a number of independents and Republicans voted for Hillary (probably 10s of thousands in Mississippi alone) as part of the Limbaugh plan. http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1192 I'm not saying you're wrong -- and I know there's a fear among both black and white progressives that people might push a different button once the curtain is closed. But, still, this is what the polls say... A total of 88 percent of American voters say they are "entirely comfortable" or "somewhat comfortable" having a black President, but 9 percent are "somewhat uncomfortable" or "entirely uncomfortable." And 86 percent say Obama's race won't affect their vote. also... "We note with a grain of salt that voters tell us they're not prejudiced against Obama because of race, or that only 20 percent are worried about McCain's age," Carroll said. Last I checked, women are polling for Obama.

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-08-25T11:33:47-06:00

ID

133562

Comment

Walt, that little diatribe is just about the most offensive thing I've seen on here. It's the reason the democrats have had problems leading this nation, all the liberal democrats can offer is undiluted hate and class warfare. Republicans may have their faults, but at least they didn't openly dance with the KKK after democratic conventions. Holy twisted history, Batman!

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-08-25T11:35:14-06:00

ID

133564

Comment

Iron, do you understand the party switch that happened in the '60s and why it happened? The current GOP is the Party of Strom (and the Goldwater of the '60s). The Democrats dancing with the Kluckers switched party, friend, in order to follow the racism where it bounced. The good news is that the days of the southern strategy are limited. The GOP will have to reinvent itself, and lose the race-baiting habits it adopted in the '60s. When it does, it may regain power. all the liberal democrats can offer is undiluted hate and class warfare. You know, I think I just lost all respect for you. That is a simply idiotic statement and far below the person I thought you were, even in your worst moments. As for Walt, I think he is over-reacting about white women. However, I too have been disturbed at some of the white Democrats who seem to think it's a great idea to vote for Hillary and not Barack. It's rather hard to find an excuse for that. However, those numbers are much lower than some would have us believe, for reasons that Todd stated well already. That is, it's white men who are the real problem when it comes to Obama's skin color. Not all of them, but too many of them (showing, ironically, how far we/they still have to go on the race issue). But, fortunately, white male power is shrinking in this country every year. What they, as a bloc, think doesn't matter as much as it used to. And when the dominant gender/race loses its hold, we will be in a place where race politics can matter less. But not until then. As long as white guys are still motivated by race, everyone else will be, too.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-25T11:45:52-06:00

ID

133565

Comment

Walt, you are correct. Those were the Son of a Nutcutter's remarks. My bad.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2008-08-25T11:48:23-06:00

ID

133566

Comment

Yeah, ITodd, you know I like to think and write on the edge. I don't have a problem at all with being proven wrong. I hope I am wrong and would be too glad to admit it later on should I be proven wrong. I can't lie, I'm still afraid the white women are going to do what some people have called the white thing at the poll and vote against Obama due to race. I was in a restaurant eating chicken and shortening my life Saturday when a black person said Obama would win. I case the room for responses, verbal or non-verbal, and made eye contact with white women who said non-verbally not if they could help it. This coupled with other nonverbal and verbal comments doesn't give a brotha much hope down this way. Thanks for the polls information. We will see. I hope Obama realizes the situation and time in which he finds himself and makes the speech of his life. Not that the speech will matter to some people, but we true talents and change-makers must do our best in times that try men' souls.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-25T11:50:35-06:00

ID

133567

Comment

For clarity, that comment about white women being in the klan is a historical fact of many, many years ago, when klan activity was high as in the early 1900s. I forgot to add that. If that caused any confusion, please accept my apology.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-25T11:59:45-06:00

ID

133569

Comment

I knew what you meant there, Walt. I'm not offended by it. HIstory can hurt, but it's still history. Some people would prefer it not be brought up, but I'm certainly not one of them, as you know. We don't talk about it, we don't learn from it.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-25T12:17:00-06:00

ID

133570

Comment

I can think of nothing that would breath more fire and life into a campaign than picking a running mate that makes 90% of the people you want to get to vote for you say... "Who?" He did come up with a great line about Rudy Giuliani, "Noun, verb, and 9/11." Not an exciting choice, but a safe one.

Author

Tre

Date

2008-08-25T12:18:03-06:00

ID

133571

Comment

Finally, Iron, you really did hurt my wittle feelings. I forgive you though and believe someday we both will be free. I'm going to teach you yet to jump out the box. It must be quite restricting and smothering in there. I still love you like a distant cousin I have nothing in common with.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-25T12:19:10-06:00

ID

133572

Comment

Whats funny is while Jackson Jr is cautioning Obama not get angry, James Carville is advising him to get outraged and show a little more fire.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2008-08-25T12:19:46-06:00

ID

133573

Comment

With due respect to both those dinosaurs, I don't think Obama needs to take advice from either Jackson or Carville. It's a new day.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-08-25T12:38:20-06:00

ID

133574

Comment

Yeah, Jeff, this is interesting. I often face a similar challenge on a small scale since I have to argue to whites frequently imploring them to do the opposite of what white prosecutors urge them to do. On one hand, if I come at them too timid-like they won't beleive I'm sincere to my cause or worthy of believing or following, and black folks will call me weak. On the other hand, if I come strong or very strong, I'm often seen as an angry black man. Sometimes we do jury interviews to guage their perceptions of me versus white lawyers in the same cases. You'd be amazed at what they say about me when I come fearlessly strong without any stratching of the head, shuffling, bowing, docility, hesitation or undue respect for the system. I'm used to it. I expect it. White women castigate me just as severely as the white men do in these cases. To keep from losing unjustly, in my view, I have to outsmart them. Fortunately, I know I won't be viewed like a white lawyer. I don't cry about it, I just do what I have to do to overcome it. Obama knows this walk of life too. If he didn't know it before he ran for this office, he knows now. I think he should show some anger and outrage too about republican policies and our state of being, but explain it so that Rust, Anne, Sean, Lars, Fox and others want explain it for him. Otherwise, stay calm and deliberate and see where that takes him.