This is fun to watch. He's doing the Reps campaigning for them.
WASHINGTON —
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden officially launched his presidential campaign and has come out of the gate swinging — not at President Bush and the Republicans, but at fellow Democrats seeking their party's nomination.
In a story published in The New York Observer, Biden, who on Wednesday filed papers with the Federal Election Commission for an exploratory committee, said New York Sen.
“From the part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’" Biden tells the Observer. "We’re not going to equip them? OK. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea.”
Biden, whose ideas include dividing Iraq into three autonomous republics divided by ethnic group -- Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite, reportedly said Clinton's policy on Iraq would result in “nothing but disaster,” and he goes on to question the former first lady's electability.Hillary Clinton's position on Iraq "baffles" him.
“Everyone in the world knows her,” Biden, 64, told the Observer. “Her husband has used every single legitimate tool in his behalf to lock people in, shut people down. Legitimate. And she can’t break out of 30 percent for a choice for Democrats?"
Biden also had fighting words for Barack Obama, calling the Illinois senator "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.... I mean, that’s a storybook, man” — but then questioning his electability.
He called Obama "a one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate."
Biden added: “I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.”
He also called former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards — along with 2004 running mate Sen. John Kerry — "perfect blow-dried candidates," adding that on Iraq, "I don't think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about."
Biden described Edwards' position on Iraq as "like so much Fluffernutter out there."
"So for me, what I think you have to do is have a strategic notion. And they may have it — they are just smart enough not to enunciate it."
Biden conducted a less contentious interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, saying he learned his lessons from his 1988 run at the White House — namely "words matter" and "to lose one's temper is not a good thing."
Biden appeared to have his sense of humor intact Wednesday while listening to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. In it, Kissinger, denied a quote attributed to him in Bob Woodward's book "State of Denial." In it, Kissinger supposedly told then-White House speechwriter Michael Gerson that the United States needed to "humiliate" radical Islam in Iraq.
Kissinger said he "never said anything like that" and expressed disdain for "a kind of journalism" that takes "an alleged quote" and "spins a theory around it." To that response, Biden, the panel's chairman, quipped: "Last time you help him write a speech."
In his announcement of a presidential bid, which appears on his campaign Web site, Biden took a serious tone: "The next president of the United States is going to have to be prepared to immediately step in and act without hesitation to end our involvement in Iraq without further destabilizing the Middle East and the rest of the world. Our safety is at stake."
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Hillary Clinton's position on Iraq "baffles" him. “From the part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’" Biden tells the Observer. "We’re not going to equip them? OK. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea.”
I kinda like this guy now.
WASHINGTON —
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden officially launched his presidential campaign and has come out of the gate swinging — not at President Bush and the Republicans, but at fellow Democrats seeking their party's nomination.
In a story published in The New York Observer, Biden, who on Wednesday filed papers with the Federal Election Commission for an exploratory committee, said New York Sen.
“From the part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’" Biden tells the Observer. "We’re not going to equip them? OK. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea.”
Biden, whose ideas include dividing Iraq into three autonomous republics divided by ethnic group -- Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite, reportedly said Clinton's policy on Iraq would result in “nothing but disaster,” and he goes on to question the former first lady's electability.Hillary Clinton's position on Iraq "baffles" him.
“Everyone in the world knows her,” Biden, 64, told the Observer. “Her husband has used every single legitimate tool in his behalf to lock people in, shut people down. Legitimate. And she can’t break out of 30 percent for a choice for Democrats?"
Biden also had fighting words for Barack Obama, calling the Illinois senator "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.... I mean, that’s a storybook, man” — but then questioning his electability.
He called Obama "a one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate."
Biden added: “I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.”
He also called former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards — along with 2004 running mate Sen. John Kerry — "perfect blow-dried candidates," adding that on Iraq, "I don't think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about."
Biden described Edwards' position on Iraq as "like so much Fluffernutter out there."
"So for me, what I think you have to do is have a strategic notion. And they may have it — they are just smart enough not to enunciate it."
Biden conducted a less contentious interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, saying he learned his lessons from his 1988 run at the White House — namely "words matter" and "to lose one's temper is not a good thing."
Biden appeared to have his sense of humor intact Wednesday while listening to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. In it, Kissinger, denied a quote attributed to him in Bob Woodward's book "State of Denial." In it, Kissinger supposedly told then-White House speechwriter Michael Gerson that the United States needed to "humiliate" radical Islam in Iraq.
Kissinger said he "never said anything like that" and expressed disdain for "a kind of journalism" that takes "an alleged quote" and "spins a theory around it." To that response, Biden, the panel's chairman, quipped: "Last time you help him write a speech."
In his announcement of a presidential bid, which appears on his campaign Web site, Biden took a serious tone: "The next president of the United States is going to have to be prepared to immediately step in and act without hesitation to end our involvement in Iraq without further destabilizing the Middle East and the rest of the world. Our safety is at stake."
---------
Hillary Clinton's position on Iraq "baffles" him. “From the part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’" Biden tells the Observer. "We’re not going to equip them? OK. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea.”
I kinda like this guy now.