A Rocky Road For Obma If Elected

If Obama becomes President his popularity will sag and he will make unpopular decisions widely viewed as unsound.

No, that's not my opinion.  My source is the always entertaining Joe Biden, who seems intent on lowering expectations to the point that the nation will marvel if Obama has the competence and vision to remember to show up on Jan 20 to be sworn in.

"I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, 'Oh my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?' We're gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I'm asking you now, I'm asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. Remember the faith you had at this point because you're going to have to reinforce us."

"There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, 'Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don't know about that decision'," Biden continued. "Because if you think the decision is sound when they're made, which I believe you will when they're made, they're not likely to be as popular as they are sound. Because if they're popular, they're probably not sound."

I don't like the sound of that.  The good decisions won't be popular?  The suspense is killing me.  And speaking of killing me, what about this fear-mongering from Biden?

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. 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."

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. "And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."

Oh, great - so per Biden, after Obama gets the 3 AM phone call we will all think he blew it.  I deplore this negative, attack-oriented campaigning.  C'mon, Joe, give me a reason to Go With O!

Hmm - people deplored similar fear-mongering from Hillary and Rudy.  Seasons change.

MORE: Jim Geraghty worries that the Senate won't be able to advise and consent in a crisis:

I'm hoping that, if Obama is elected, he nominates the best attorney general, secretary of state, secretary of defense, secretary of homeland security, etc., he can find. But if a crisis is unfolding, the Senate will probably be under enormous pressure to confirm the nominees and get them into their jobs as quickly as possible. That seems like less than ideal circumstances for the Senate to exercise appropriate scrutiny.

When did we expect scrutiny from Harry Reid and his 59 fellow Dems?

Jennifer Rubin has fun:

Well, golly, if Obama is so untested that we will have a series of international crises — at the very time we are in a financial meltdown — which will make the Cuban Missile Crisis look like a walk in the park, shouldn’t we vote for the other guy who will keep all the miscreants in their place? Now, maybe we should rest easy because, according to Biden, “I’ve forgotten more about foreign policy than most of my colleagues know, so I’m not being falsely humble with you.” (Maybe Hezbollah’s occupation of Lebanon was one of the things he forgot.)

The Captain reminds us of Kennedy's meeting with Krushchev "without preconditions":

What resulted?  The Berlin Wall and the Cuban missile crisis. Kennedy wound up trading strategic intel and missile installations in western Asia in exchange for Soviet withdrawal of the nuclear missiles from Cuba.  The entire Kennedy administration turned out to be a foreign-policy disaster that was only overlooked because of the tragic assassination of Kennedy in Dallas in 1963.

I agree with Biden.  Obama is exactly like Kennedy in this regard, and our enemies will test us by threatening our interests around the globe if we elect Obama.  I’d rather avoid the problem altogether and elect a man who puts enough fear into the minds of our enemies to keep them from testing us at all.

Biden is trying to put lipstick on the Bay of Pigs.

Comments

[Paul Zrimsek]

I thought Joe the Dumber was softening us up for the Nov. 5 announcement canceling the middle-class tax cut-- until he started going on about the Global Test.

[kim]

Joe's laying the groundwork for impeachment.
==============================

[michaelt]

"Because if they're popular, they're probably not sound."

Does that apply to candidates as well?

[bad]

Woe Joe

[bgates]

Feb 1, 2009. Two-way monitors are installed in every room of every home. The first image to come up: Joe Biden, saying, "See, I told you this wasn't going to be popular. But you voted for us. Now let me tell you about the summit we're convening to discuss what happened in New York. I'm thinking about popping up the gas tax to $5; it's good for the environment, and we can give the revenue to Iran to show there's no hard feelings."

[Barney Frank]

Interesting campaign strategy.

Not 'are you better off today than you were four years ago?';
but 'you are going to be worse off four years from now than you are today.'

[Barney Frank]

A Rocky Road For Obma If Elected

Is 'Obma' a pigeon English reference to Barry's ACORN rent-a-mob connection?

[Extraneus]

Biden's worries can be avoided if McCain utters the following words regarding Obama: "How is this guy qualified to be President?"

Oh, the mass gnashing of teeth. The hue and cry. The plaintive screeches of racism!

But not even his supporters can answer the question. Nobody can.

[bad]

'you are going to be worse off four years from now than you are today.'

Finally, some honesty from the HObama campaign.

Beyond "Spread the wealth around."

[Neo]

Obama has “worked closely” with Ayers – a claim debunked widely in the press

Come on Elana Schor .. show me the money .. and prove it.
Else you are a liar.

[Jane]

Ain't that the truth BGates.

[DebinNC]

Talk about chutzpah. With the election in the bag, Biden is now grooming a duped populace to ignore their lying eyes next Feb-July when DC statehood passes, abortions are paid for with public funds, the Marines are pulled out or Iraq in favor os Mogadishu II in Pakistan? And libs find Palin scary?

[clarice plumber]

Isn't it clever of Joe to remind us as we sit in this seven year safety cocoon--that we are consideringinstalling in office at a very dangerous time a totally untested weakling on national defense.

"Gird your loins", Biden says..You betcha!

[Pofarmer]

That's not to mention the problems that are going to follow Obama into office of his own doing. Rezko and all the peculiarities surrounding his campaign financing to name just two. How many political pitfalls has Obama not avoided, but fallen into and been pulled back out of, that would have killed any mere mortal politician?

[Sue]

Joe the Dumber. Serious laughing out loud!

[bad]

Ryan Lizza on Joe Biden.

LUN

Extremely disappointing so far but I'll keep reading.

[clarice plumber]

Sue, I love Joe the Dumber.
Maybe for last minute entertainment we ought to propose a debate on the economy between the two Joes.

[boris]

Sounds like Joe is warning ... "Don't you dare stab us in the back like we did W!"

[DebinNC]

Rush is starting off the week with Biden's "gird your loins".

[clarice plumber]

We see things rather the same, it appears. What a dunce Biden is..

[bad]

Biden:

I would see one of my jobs as essentially being the president of the Senate in the sense of actually not presiding as much as interacting, continuing to interact, talking to Harry Reid every day or talking to Nancy Pelosi,” Biden said

Ick

[Chris]

God love ya, Joe!

[bad]

More Biden: LUN

I have never, ever, ever screwed another senator,” he said.

I'll bet all senators are counting their lucky stars.

[bad]

**thanking**

[Sue]

I have never, ever, ever screwed another senator,” he said.

Why so specific senator? Did you screw a congressperson?

[bad]

More Biden:

“People point out the other mistakes that Presidents have made in the first hundred days,” he said. “I predict to you that Barack will not make them.”

Any need to gird our loins will be Hobama free.

LUN

[glenda waggoner]

wouldn't it have been patriotic and "sound" to have supported President Bush's difficult decisions? and maybe a solid front against the world who takes and then complains could have "liked" us more? PLease, this guy is giving all democrats a warning-don't vote for us-we're going to screw you!

[DebinNC]

Boy, bad's Biden quote above directly contradicts Biden's debate putdown of Palin's answer to the VP's role question. Giddy at the chance to vilify Cheney, Biden angrily and wrongly claimed then that the VP has no legislative role as it's a solely Executive Branch position.

[clarice plumber]

Maybe he didn't screw another Senator because his loins are always girded.

[bad]

The Lizza article on Biden talks a great deal about Sarah Palin.

Overall, the piece is very disappointing compared to Lizza's article on Obama.

Biden uses the word presumptuous a lot.

Here is Biden on Biden:

“I’m going to say something presumptuous,” Biden said to me. “There’s one advantage in having been around as long as I have. Everybody in the Senate knows me, and—I’m going to say something presumptuous, to repeat myself—I think most respect me.”

[sbw whitman plumber jane]

Thwack!

[Elliott]

Did everyone see Obama's comment that what McCain calls socialism, he calls "opportunity"? I think it gives McCain a great chance to explain why it won't work no matter what Obama wants to call it. And if McCain wraps it up by saying, "As Senator Obama rather ham-handedly remarked a few weeks ago, 'You can put lipstick on a pig: it's still a pig," more power to him.

[glasater]

"Gird your loins", Biden says..

He shoulda said "Fill your hands.....". Ala the Duke!

[bad]

we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community

Joe wants us to become community organizers for HObama.

[bad]

Lizza might drive the lefties nuts with this comparison:

In one way, at least, the Dick Cheney model appeals to Obama: he (Biden) represents the virtues of strong Washington experience, a close relationship with the President, and no hidden political ambitions. Unlike Humphrey, Mondale, Bush, and Gore, Cheney has not spent his tenure worrying about a future Presidential campaign...

Imagine actually believing a Cheney model has no hidden agenda. Is Lizza unaware of the Dark Overlords aspirations? geez...get a clue dude...

[A.B.]

Does Joe Illuminati know something we don't know, like another building is going to horrifically blow up or another war is in the works? Does he want to spark visions of the Bush administration? I am totally freaked out.

[Jane]

Imagine Biden promising he won't run. Now that's a laugh.

[clarice plumber]

Biden always blabs the last thing he heard. This weekend wqe learned both candidates' teams were breifed on existing threats.

[clarice plumber]

*we learned*
"briefed*

[Elliott]

Good point, Clarice. Who do you think will be breaking the story Ace has been teasing or is it all bunk?

[clarice plumber]

I'm inclined to believe the neighbors had a close relationshipo and the report is thus not farfetched, but I have no idea about the credibility of the source or when or if he/she will go public with that story.

[bgates]

Does Joe Illuminati know something we don't know, like another building is going to horrifically blow up
No, we've been told Bill Ayers isn't in contact with the campaign.

[Elliott]

From reading Ace's remarks in the comments, it sounds like PJTV to me. The recent columns they've had on the DOJ have been been anonymously authored.

[ben]

Meanwhile, Gallup shows Obama gaining, the other tracking polls are all showing a closer race. CNN has it 51-46.

[clarice plumber]

Good guess.

[clarice plumber]

Poll results from 10/23/04:
Gallup: Bush 51, Kerry 46
Democracy Corps: Bush 47, Kerry 49
Zogby: Bush 45, Kerry 47
Survey USA: Bush 48, Kerry 50
ARG: Bush 47, Kerry 50
Rasmussen: Bush 50, Kerry 46

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Ben, remember that when a poll changes by 1 point with a margin of error of 3 points, that doesn't mean any more than a coin flip would.

[Antimedia]

Neo is clearly an idiot. You can't read this blog and not know about Ayers' connections to Obama. The only possible explanation is willful ignorance. SOP for liberals.

[Sue]

Our Neo is an idiot? Our Neo is a liberal? I think you misread him.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Antimedia, I think you're misreading that. It's Elena Shor saying Obama had no connection, and Neo calling her a liar.

[bad]

My brain farts must be contagious...

[bad]

The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza on Joe Biden:

Biden’s time on the trail has been defined more by a series of supposed gaffes...

Supposed gaffes...hmmm

[Plumber's Pal]

Hmmmm!

October Surprise?

The touchy interview tapes of Michelle Obama, the wife of the US Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is soon ready for release in the US and will be aired unedited.

The release has taken long due to the fact that API wanted to clear all legal hurdles and be safe from getting sued by any one. API and a US Law firm - LAW OFFICES OF PHILIP J. BERG has just entered into an agreement giving the law firm the right to represent API in all matters that may arise due to the Michelle Obama interview and the release of the tapes in the US.

API has realised that the interview with Mrs Obama is of great significance in the coming elections. The release of the tapes is not intended to derail the elections or to destroy the chances that Mr Obama may have in getting elected the first black president of the United States.”

[Elliott]

API and a US Law firm - LAW OFFICES OF PHILIP J. BERG

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Shark orbiting has commenced.

[bio mom]

Above: The election is NOT IN THE BAG.

[rhodeymark]

Berg would be the same PUMA behind obamacrimes.com I take it?

[clarice plumber]

Berg is the lawyer suing to make Obama prove he's a natural born citizen.

[Plumber's Pal]

Berg is the lawyer who filed the Obama birth certificate federal law suit.

[kim]

Hmmm, I think Hi'll Buzz off to Tee Dahlin.
==========================

[kim]

They're suspicious of a hoax, and dismayed that it might be a distraction for Berg. I think they're worried about Obama producing a Hawaiian birth certificate from the vault, despite that he still has Indonesian citizenship, and traveled as an adult under it, like to Pakistan.
======================

[clarice plumber]

Who are you talking about, Kim? "They" isn't very specific you know.

McCain picks up the ball Biden kicked onto the field and runs to the touchdown zone with it..between Joe the Plumber and Joe the Dumeber he has two nice solid leads to the end.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/McCain_keys_off_Biden_remarks.html

[kim]

PUMAs at Texas Darlin'.
==============

[kim]

Once again, art impedes communication.
==========================

[MayBee]

Biden is trying to put lipstick on the Bay of Pigs.

Fabulous.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

So, another boring old Instalanche for Tom.

[drjohn]

Yeah, that Biden is WAY more qualified than Palin, eh?

[Mister Snitch]

I thought Europe was gonna love us again when O got in, just like they did when... uh, whenever that time was, when they loved us. Oh yeah. The moon landing. They loved us for a day or two then I think.

So Biden says the right decisions are UNpopular? Gee, how right is Bush, then?

[E. Nigma]

I'm not sure if Biden is trying to run a psyops campaign on the US public, the rest of the Obama campaign staff, or himself.

Alleged future crisis?

"Presumptious" to ascertain his knowledge of foreign policy? An I'm sure that Colin Powell is just a phone call away, too. As is Warren Christopher and Madeline Albright.

Woo! I'm scaring myself now.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

So Biden says the right decisions are UNpopular? Gee, how right is Bush, then?

Word.

Between this and the recent Palin story, do you suppose the MSM may be feeling a little buyers' remorse?

[clarice plumber]

In about 24 hours Biden will be wrapped up by Obama more tightly than Hannibal Lector was.

[Cover Me, Porkins]

The mind boggles with possible prophecy fulfillment.

China invades Taiwan, Obama pronounces it a "heartbreaking reunification" while Biden quips, "Well, hell, they're all Chinese anyway"?

[Plumber's Pal]

Father against son, brother against brother, where have I learned of this before?

Powell Endorses McCain (Endorsement Ignored by MSM)

Powell has endorsed McCain. Huh? Is that some sort of typo? Nope. It is the Powell endorsement that the mainstream media is ignoring. Colin Powell has endorsed Barack Obama which was widely heralded in the MSM. However, his son, former FCC Commission Chairman Michael Powell has endorsed John McCain. The MSM is conveniently ignoring it but here is the report of this endorsement in The Hill:

[Michael J. "Orange Mike" Lowrey]

How dare Biden hint that a switch from Shrub's "we can finance two-and-a-half wars AND cut taxes on the rich AND pay for Reagan's debtload" might not be popular with the country that bought this pap for eight years! Everybody knows that the American electorate is just YEARNING to be told the brutal truth about structural deficits.

[Judith]

Biden is not talking about the Bay of Pigs but about the Cuban Missile Crisis which followed a weak performance by JFK the Vienna summit with Khrushchev. It was the closest we came to a nuclear war ever.

[rjschwarz]

Biden is just being realistic. W was tested by the chinese soon after taking office (remember the spy plane deal). I think we can count on a one-two punch of Obama is elected as a number of nations decide to challenge his spine, probably taking advantage of the timing of other crisises.

I suspect McCain, with his known anger, won't have the same level of trouble from the world but of course Biden wouldn't say that at this point.

[Paul Zrimsek]

I'm sure we're all agreed that telling the truth about structural deficits isn't popular. Which is undoubtedly why Obama is instead promising to fund universal health care with a tax cut.

[mrkwong]

Khruschev decided to test JFK, in the end it proved to be a draw. Khruschev blinked and in the end it cost him his chair.

That isn't to say we won; the 'cool' JFK and the highly-educated, self-confident collection of advisers that he passed on to JFK cost this country far more.

[adlibn]

These comments by Biden are amazing on so many levels. Don't worry Joe, we'll treat BO just as fairly as you guys treated Bush.

[Jim Ryan]

finance...AND cut taxes

That should be "by cutting taxes." The tax cuts greatly increased tax revenue.

Could we please stop saying that tax cuts will cause a decrease in tax revenue? Wait until we get to the sweet spot on the Laffer curve. There's no evidence that we're there yet.

Thanks!

[rhodeymark]

In about 24 hours Biden will be wrapped up by Obama more tightly than Hannibal Lector was.

I've been saying "Biden bites" since his selection!

[Baba Ganoush]

You don't have to go back to JFK to recall an example of a serious challenge to a new President. It happened to Bush in April 2001, when the Chinese downed a US Navy plane while it was flying over international waters. This incident seems to have gone down the collective MSM memory hole. If Obama wins the upcoming election, the challenge could come much sooner if the Israelis decide they cannot wait to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat. What if they decide they need to take action before Bush leaves office?

[rhodeymark]

"Orange Mike"
What, laid off from the Odinga staff?

[clarice plumber]

In essence 9/11 was such an event. Remember Gore and Clinton held up the transition planning. By 9/11 many key positions were still unfilled or had just been filled.

[MarkJ]

"Gird your loins"?

I've love to do that, but I'm so well-endowed "below-the-equator" that it's very difficult for me to find a big enough girding for my loins.

Hey, d'ya think Obama will include free loin-girders in his health plan?

[Sue]

I'm going off topic for a minute, but can someone clear up Obama's "tax cut" for the middle class for me? I swear he is offering a one time check for $1000 while allowing Bush's tax cuts to expire. There is no tax cut, at least as far as I can tell.

[clarice plumber]

Last time we discussed girding loins here, Chemerinsky was girding his for the Plame suit. And we k ow that one bombed at the gate.

[Barbara Skolaut]

So which of our enemies is the NoBama camp in talks with to spring that "challenge," and what were they promised for doing it?

[ben]

"I think we can count on a one-two punch of Obama is elected as a number of nations decide to challenge his spine, probably taking advantage of the timing of other crisises."

No, they will take advantage of the fact he is a naive, unprepared and inexperienced empty suit.

[Jeff R.]

To be fair, there are some countries out there who will test any new president, McCain or Obama and the next guy and the guy after him, too. Like China. They always create an international incident within the first year of any new administration, usually by means of making someone else's aircraft land involuntarily...

[Baba Ganoush]

To answer MarkJ's question, anticipate that under Obama's health plan the government will offer free girders to those who had sub-prime loins, but those who are rich in girth will be taxed to spread their width around. Be assured that most small businessmen should see a lower girth rate or even a girth rebate, allowing them to expand their loins as the credit squeeze lets up.

[Amused bystander]

You know the old joke about the Irishman who goes to England and applies for a job with a construction firm?

Hiring boss: "Right. Now tell me, if you can, the difference between a girder and a joist?"

Applicant (with puzzlement): "Well..now...could it be that a Goethe would write Faust and a Joyce would write Ulysses?"

[Pagar]

"So which of our enemies is the NoBama camp in talks with to spring that "challenge," and what were they promised for doing it?"

With hundreds of foreign policy advisers, all of whom appear to be putting out anti-Israel messages continuously, I doubt if there is any need to talk to any of our enemies. They clearly get the message; open season on Israel the day Obama takes office.

In addition:
"Obama advisor Michael Schiffer told reporters that Obama's first step after the election will be to pull troops from Iraq."

How much talking to our enemies would one have to do before they understood that they were free to destroy Iraq?

LUN

[bad]

A cynical take, (and one that requires Joe to be clever), is that Joe is giving a pre-warning for when, gosh darn, gee whiz, Obama won't be able to cut those taxes after all, in fact, he will need to raise them and we will all need to sacrifice together to repair the damage of the Bush years.

[Baba Ganoush]

@mrkwong: The standoff with the Soviets was hardly a draw. With his gambit of placing missiles in Cuba, Khrushchev wanted to force the US to withdraw its missiles from Turkey. That is precisely what he got as part of the agreement to end the Cuban Missile Crisis. JFK quietly ordered the missiles out of Turkey because he knew the Soviets had the US boxed into a corner. That's when JFK learned the lesson that Obama is stubbornly determined to ignore. For good reason, Putin surely must view Obama in the same way Khrushchev viewed JFK. I predict Obama will blink first.

[Baba Ganoush]

MarkJ: Do not forget that under Obama's nationalized health care plan, you will also get a free petard to hoist your loins on, under a single petard payer plan, which really distinguishes it from McCain's plan, under which you will be free to choose your own petard payer.

[torabora]

Did Obiden just try to throw BO under his own bus?

[Plumber's Pal]

VOTERS SHOULD BE MORE CONCERENED ABOUT OBAMA'S LIFE-EXPECTANCY THAN WITH MCCAIN'S

FACT: Both of Obama's parents (the one's listed on his COLB, at least) died young.

FACT: McCain's parents BOTH outlived Obama's parents, AND HIS MOTHER IS STILL ALIVE.

This makes the likelihood of Biden becoming president upon Obama's death in office GREATER than the likelihood of Palin becoming president upon McCain's.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

besides, think who would get the job if Obama died.

[clarice plumber]

Well his father was an alcoholic who died in an auto accident and his mother died of cervical cancer..neither of which seem to be problems he has to worry about.It's not as though his family has congenital heart diease .

[Sue]

Why is McCain not hitting Obama harder on the tax cuts issue? It isn't a tax cut. It is a check for $500 if you work, $1000 if both spouses work, and then it squishes into the tax credits for college (I don't have college age children so scratch that for me), mortgage interest credit (paid my house off, so scratch that too). And on January 1, 2011, the tax rate increases for everyone when Bush's tax cuts expire. On Obama's website, he skips right past Bush and even Clinton and heads into Reagan territory. We will be paying 20% less than we paid under Reagan. Nary a mention of the high income tax rate that Reagan inherited from Carter and had to work to reduce. Any reason why McCain isn't hammering Obama on the tax increase for middle class wage earners when Bush's tax cut expires?