Can Joe still attack?

[Klukie]

When I heard that Joe Biden was Obamas pick for VP I was fired up. I thought he is the perfect choice to attack McCain on foreign policy. He knows his stuff and he doesn't take any shit. I was almost giddy at the prospect of Joe at the VP debates. I couldn't think of one person that he couldn't pulverize with facts and wit and then along came Sarah Palin. In an instant the whole dynamic changed. Personally I don't think it should change a goddamned thing but the reality is it will. I have posted before that perception is everything and I think that this is especially true in this match up. Can he go after her like he should? I am interested to know what you all think his tactics and tone should be.

[dkofos]

1. Why not? I believe in equality, don't you?

[Klukie]

10. I certainly do ...

but the masses may not.

[saltpoint]

2. Yes, and with some authority, too. His record on most women's issues

dwarfs Palin's.

[LSparkle]

3. Yes, but in his own smiling, cordial way ...

I think Randi Rhodes had it right yesterday when she
said that Biden will likely "help" Palin through their
debate -- perhaps correcting her (gently) when she
misspeaks about some missile treaty or the leader of
a foreign government ... He will make it known in
NO UNCERTAIN TERMS that HE is the EXPERIENCED, steady
one, and she is the neophyte. He won't be unkind,
but we WON'T be left wondering who won the debate.

[But....]

4. He has to attack...

but now he has to be careful how he does it:hide:

[ikojo]

5. Equality demands that she take her punches

like any male candidate would be expected to. I say go after her Joe Biden, don't play nice because she will not play nice.

[vi5]

6. He won't need to attack her....

Especially if talk turns to foreign policy, all he has to do is barely lift a finger and he'll run rings around her. He doesn't need to raise his voice or be aggressive or change his tone in the least. He just needs to talk and it's all over. And thankfully he's not someone who is overly dry or has a lecturing tone about them so it's not like it will be a matter of her knowing nothing but being overly folksy about it contrasted with him being dry and going on these long tangential explanations. He should be fine.

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. He can slice and dice her without appearing nasty

Just stick to the facts and she'll readily fall of her own ignorance.

[DebbieCDC]

8. Why should she get a pass?

Because she has a uterus? Hey, equality means equal in ALL things. I agree he doesn't have to be nasty or condescending. Just treat her like a MALE candidate. No more/no less. Game, set, match.

[Olney Blue]

9. Joe would do well, no matter who he debates. That is why you choose a

seasoned pro for the big leagues.

[Windy]

11. His attacks should take the form of "schooling" the incompetent... nicely helping her to understand.

that would crystalize her incompetene and he would still come off as a good guy. I think Joe could pull it off.

[Aristus]

12. If Biden eases into it, behaves like a gentleman and then destroys Palin,

it could have people asking if she can stand up to Putin and others like him.

[endthewar]

13. Joe should attack McCain and virtually ignore Palin.

That is the best tactic. Ideally, one wants the scenario of a back-and-forth between your V.P. pick and the other party's Presidential nominee.

[Klukie]

15. I think I like that

[endthewar]

26. McCain's camp made a mistake airing that Biden ad

about Biden talking about Obama and then talking nicely about McCain. What will happen next is some reporters will ask Biden about it, then Biden will bodyslam McCain, and then some reporters will ask McCain for a response. Once that ball gets rolling, it will be hard to stop. Then if Palin chimes in and makes the slightest gaffe, the press will be all over her. If McCain gets into a back-and-forth with Biden, it's over. Obama will concentrate on the American people and McCain won't be able to use his "experience" cop out like he normally does against Biden. And if he pulls the POW card again, the press might roll their eyes and call him out on it.

[TahitiNut]

14. He'll be painted as a Snideley Whiplash and she'll lie on the tracks waiting for Dudley McDowrong.

:shrug:

The melodrama will continue.

[ShadesOfGrey]

16. Of course he should!!!

She SAYS that she's a feminist. Well, I'm a boomer feminist. If someone treated me any different than they would a male opponent, I'd call them sexist!

[stillcool]

17. Attack? I have a problem with that word...

Is pointing out policy differences in a Presidential Election an attack? Is lying, smearing, and debasing the opposing candidate the only way to win an election? How dumb are we?

[ShadesOfGrey]

21. Attack is the perfect word...

This woman is on a ticket with an older man that may have to hand the whole shebang over to her. Look at what her experience is. Look at what her stances on the issues are. We HAVE to attack her NOW. The future of our country depends on it.

[stillcool]

25. why is that pointing out the obvious...

incredulous choice of this woman an 'attack'? Why is that pointing out her non-experience an 'attack'?

[ShadesOfGrey]

30. Well some here call it an attack...

but hey, she's running for VP! Under the circumstances she may end up as our CIC. Attacking her is fair game - and necessary! She just can't walk into the game at this late point as a complete unknown and expect us to give her a pass because she's a woman, right?

[stillcool]

32. No one should be in the position ...

she finds herself. She is being used. If anyone needs to be 'attacked' it is John McCain for having zero regard for the welfare of the American people. What does he think, he's selling us a car?

[ShadesOfGrey]

34. Selling us a car? Ha! I think you just hit the nail on the head...

:evilfrown:

[Barbara2423]

18. Can Joe Still Attack?

McCain and the Republicans chose Palin because they knew Joe Biden who has more experience than all of them was coming after them. Joe will not be able to treat Palin as an equal. If he does, she will get emotional and cry (yes I am a female). Then he will feel sympathy for her because he does not want to look like a bully. Then Palin will attack Joe while he tries to hold back making him look weak. Enlightened women know for a fact this is how it will go.

What these enlighten women should do is vote for Barack to show McCain women are not one size fits all and we do no appreciate be used. There are women that are beautiful and qualified, Sarah Palin is not one of them.

[gateley]

19. In theory, she should get no special treatment (and she would probably

agree with that, too), but the MSM and the Reps would spin it as beating up on the lady. (Like they spun Clark's statement into one that attacked John McCain when it wasn't even remotely true.)

[ColbertWatcher]

20. Why wouldn't Joe attack?

The vice presidential nominee is supposed to be the attack dog going after the other party's presidential candidate.

Just as Palin will be going after Obama, Biden will be going after Admiral McCombover.

We also know that the GOP's propaganda sleeper cells will be going after Biden and doing the dirty work of Obama attacks.

We have to make sure the so-called playing field is even.

[awoke_in_2003]

22. If Hillary had been the candidate...

would they have taken the fact she is a woman into account? No- so why should we.

[JitterbugPerfume]

23. She wants to be his equal

so let her prove it . Women are not made of cotton candy and she is known as Sara Barracuda , so let them go at it.

She wants to be a heartbeat away from being the leader of the free world --a very feeble heartbeat at that . No body acted like Hillary was a delicate flower and Sara shouldn't be treated that way either

[kevinmc]

24. Attack McCain …. Palin is irrelevant …. she liked Obama 2 weeks ago. N/T

[Disturbed]

29. I am positive that Biden will handle his job quite well.

Gov. Palin will receive what she deserves.

[0rganism]

27. yes, with a qualifying dependence on media narrative

Really, there's no need for Biden to even bring Palin into it, except for the VP debate. Biden is still perfectly safe going after McCain on policy, whatever the VP pick. During the VP debate, he'll have to scale it back to avoid getting tagged as a "bully"; the preferred approach would be to let her make herself look stupid on the issues without his assistance. During his rebuts, he should try to fluster her and throw her off balance rather than using harsh finishing moves.

However, he cannot let up when it comes to defending his own positions. The worst mistake any of us could make is to underestimate the impact of a successful debate from Palin if Joe fucks up, and because of her relative inexperience, even a draw will entice what remains of the impartial media to call it for Palin.

Bringing in Palin gives the GOP ticket certain advantages, most of them involving the tendencies of the newsmedia to seek out a simple, appealing narrative angle from which it will not deviate throughout the campaign. That means lots of potential pitfalls for Obama/Biden, they do have to be careful about her. Even using proxy attacks through unaffiliated 3rd-parties could support a "sympathy for the hardworking mother of 5" story, she really is something of a third rail.

As I mentioned yesterday, in a chess analogy, she'd be a weak piece played early into a center square -- a gambit. Attack the piece, accept the gambit, and weaken your own position. Let the opponents' gambit become a weakness in their own development by blocking their forward progress and attack around it, instead.

[northernlights]

28. she's young 'nough to be his daughter

and he's already raised one through those pesky, know-it-all teenage years. So he can just gently guide her along and explain furrin' policy, economy and apparently even woman's issues to her.

And then, by contrast we'll have Obama treating McPain like the grumpy ol' gramps we need to be respectful of, while we help him keep from fallin' over as he stumbles along...until a fuse blows, that is :rofl:

[goodcitizen]

31. Not nearly as aggressively as before.

If he is too aggressive in the VP debates, it will seem like he's bullying here. Equality or not thats just the way it is. Remember what people were saying about how Hilary was treated in the primary debates.

[madokie]

33. If her dumb ass needs kicked

then by all means kick it. We're talking about our possible leaders here now aren't we so we don't want to field a person who is not qualified for the job. That was done and because of it we are in deep shit right now.

[fla nocount]

35. I catch your drift...

can a smart, savvy, attractive, gun-totin', moose-guttin', bear-butcherin, god-fearin' mother, wife, country-girl make Oily Joe look like an ass in a wife-beater tank top? Why yes, she can, and if she wants to play wallflower he'll have to let her.

Never under-estimate prom-queens, cheer-leaders or beauty pageant contestants. They're right there with Babs Bush and home-coming queens when it comes to guile and subterfuge.

Rove and BushCo are ass-holes, not stupid ass-holes. If something were to happen to McCain who would be better to play the regents role to than the awestruck rube, Sarah Palin?

[tribeofdot]

36. Thats it....

I knew there had to be a strategy behind this. There was no way the GOP was just throwing one crazy person out there. The plan is for her to break down and cry and paint Biden as a bully.

And the media will follow the narrative hook line and sinker.

How the hell do we get around this?

[ladywnch]

37. I believe Joe will be able to destroy her in a debate in such a way

that she'll end up walking away thanking him for it!

[UTUSN]

38. The media stooges will MUZZLE him like GORE vis a vis Shrub

They did that to GORE vis a vis Shrub--"Oh, big bully GORE better not trash poor little Shrub."


Tweety did it during the California recall, fixing his snake-eyed look (his meanest, the one he used when he performed the execution of DONAHUE). He said that the Dems were going to trash Ahhhnuld, and he did the eye thing into the lens and said, menancingly needless to say, "They'd BETTER NOT!1"

[spanone]

39. he can speak from 30 years of experience

i don't think he'll have to be agressive at all...his knowledge will destroy her

[tribeofdot]

40. But the GOP will trap him...

I think she is being taught how to compulsively cry.... I think they are banking on painting Biden as a bully.

[BlueKansan]

41. With surgical precision!

Joe Biden was my first choice for the Democratic nomination last winter. You'd better believe Joe can skewer Palin without her even knowing it, and all the while flashing that gorgeous toothy grin. She and her hapless supporters will think he's being genteel, but he'll be gutting her like a coho salmon.

[FVZA_Colonel]

42. If she can't stand up to him, how can she stand up to Vladamir Putin?

Why should he have to pull his punches?

[Fearless]

43. Just speak the truth and use a lot of big political terms...

:rofl:

And, no that wasn't sexist. I hope Obama does the same to McSame.

[many a good man]

44. He can go after McMILF instead

Even in a normal year you go after the prez candidate, never the VP. Biden can easily dismiss Gidget and go after the dirty old man.

[MiniMe]

45. Of course he can attack on the issues. But not on anything personal

And I don't think he would.