Read the counterpoint: Biden would make better vice president
I was forced to watch the vice presidential debate Thursday, and all it did was confirm that I am making the right choice in not voting for the presidency this year.
Are you kidding me?
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin are the best choices for vice president?
There were no better choices anywhere in America?
I don’t buy that for a second.
Given the “severity” and “importance” many in the press and in Washington have bestowed on this election, I don’t understand Sen. Barack Obama’s choice in picking Biden as his running mate.
Sure, Biden’s 36 years in the Senate give the Democratic ticket experience, but Biden is not the best choice for vice president.
Biden’s propensity for sound bite gaffes makes him a particularly dangerous running mate.
Don’t get me wrong, I like that Biden has no qualms about speaking his mind. But his ability to say the stupidest things at the most inconceivably bad time is amazing.
He makes Americans everywhere remember Dan Quayle and not in a good way.
Biden is a racist. There, I said it.
The fact that he openly verbalizes his racist opinions raises questions for me as to why he’s on the ticket with possibly the first black president.
In a January, 2007 interview with the New York Observer, Biden referenced Obama, D-Ill., as, “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
You have got to be kidding me. Sen. Obama, is this the kind of man you want representing you? Seriously?
Biden continued his racist antics in October, 2007 in an interview with the Washington Post.
When asked why schools in Iowa performed better than schools in Washington DC, Biden said, “There’s less than 1 percent of the population of Iowa that is African American. There is
probably less than 4 or 5 percent that are minorities. What is in Washington? So look, it goes back to what you start off with.”
I know I haven’t hitched a ride on the politically correct train, but I’m pretty sure comments like that should get you thrown off, tied to the track and run over.
Now, I understand the fact that Biden has experience. I would hope that after 36 years in the Senate he would have political experience.
But one thing it seems Biden hasn’t learned is how to tell the truth. I guess that’s part of the “experience” of being a career politician.
I kept a list of lies and half-truths Biden made during the debate last week, and I came up with seven.
I’m sure there were more, but my hand was cramping from writing too much.
Biden said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., voted with Obama to increase taxes on Americans making $42,000 a year, which is not true.
Biden also proclaimed his support for off-shore drilling, but a cursory inspection of his voting record shows quite the opposite.
Biden said he supports clean coal, which means he flip-flopped quicker than Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., because just two weeks ago Biden “adamantly” opposed the clean coal initiative.
Biden falsely said McCain would raise taxes on individual health insurance — not exactly a lie, but not the whole truth either because he forgot to mention McCain’s offsetting tax credit.
Biden falsely accused Palin of supporting a windfall profits tax for oil companies in Alaska.
He accused McCain of voting for further deregulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – the exact opposite of what McCain actually voted for.
Finally, Biden falsely proclaimed that, under the Obama-Biden tax plan, Americans who earn less than $250,000 a year will not see a tax
increase.
That’s not exactly true since Obama has proposed raising taxes on all Americans who make more than $200,000.
I could go on much longer about why Biden is a poor choice for vice president, but I want to focus briefly on why Palin would make a better veep.
First, Palin won the debate.
She was able to express her ideas and the Republican platform much better than Biden did with the Democratic platform, and she appeared much more relaxed.
And, unlike Biden or Obama, I could relate to her.
Secondly, her experience (I know, pause for laughter) makes her a better candidate for vice president.
She is not an elitist Washington insider and doesn’t have loads of political experience.
If anything, she’s much more representative of the average American than any of the other candidates.
How much experience does a vice president really need?
If you examine the U.S. Constitution, you’ll find the Vice President to be virtually powerless.
All of the talk by pundits that Palin doesn’t have enough experience to be president is true, so it’s a good thing she’s not running for that
position.
To be fair, Palin flubbed her way through parts of the debate and many of her answers made me feel more qualified to be McCain’s running mate. But, unlike Biden, she didn’t have anything to lose.
Personally, I don’t care for either Biden or Palin, but since this great country we live in allows just two “choices” for political office, I’m forced to play the “choose the lesser of two evils” game.
Unfortunately, Sarah Palin wins that game.
Joe Hunt is an economics and history senior. His column usually appears every other Thursday.
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Charles 3 years, 7 months ago
Joe if you can "relate" to Palin it's more of an argument against your intellect than one in favor of hers.
makkunaito 3 years, 7 months ago
"And, unlike Biden or Obama, I could relate to her...If anything, she’s much more representative of the average American than any of the other candidates."
I am an African American woman and I can't relate to her at all. But I guess because I'm a minority in this country my opinion doesn't count. I agree with you when you say she is representative of the average american, but the leaders of this country shouldn't be average. Unfortunately our current president lowered the bar, but American needs to forget identity politics in this election. Because that accomplishes nothing.
If Sarah Palin should be VP then my mother could be VP. She graduated from an Ivy league, reared 4 children, (none of whom have children out of wedlock) got her master's degree while we were in middle school and is more articulate and frankly, smarter. America needs to pull it's head out of it ass and vote with their intellect, not emotion.
redbull560 3 years, 7 months ago
too bad this country is too stupid to have chosen Ron Paul. That would have been a real debate watching obama get slammed on every issue not even his rhetoric could save him
Bubba 3 years, 7 months ago
Umm, Palin didn't win the debate, she was just a spokesmodel appealing to the lowest common denominator of the Republican Party. Poor saps who believe, if they worship the rich, they too will be rich.
"Go America, 'cuz we're better than you". Seriously, I don't see how, as a nation struggling financially.... I mean, we couldn't afford Palin's makeup bill. Someone needs to get FinalCutPro and put all of her "winkies" to some soft-porn background music.
mfhayes 3 years, 7 months ago
You think Biden reminds the country of Dan Quayle?
You don't think Palin reminds the country of Dan Quayle?
And don't get me started on your assertion that the VP is "virtually powerless"...
That's a middle school definition of the VP and you know it.
merkel 3 years, 7 months ago
The next time I see a Joe Hunt column in the Daily I won't bother reading it. The word, "Blowhard," will come to mind shortly before I roll my eyes, and read on contentedly.
Whew... One less Republican cares about the election results.
You can write a swell column but when you admit that you're not voting... Well, that kind of makes your voice irrelevant to the rest of us doesn't it, Joe?
JJanowiak 3 years, 7 months ago
Wow, Joe - did you decide at the beginning of the debate to NOT keep track of all the half-truths and nontruths that Sarah Palin busted out on a near-constant basis? Biden is very open for criticism but you deserve an award for cherry picking so many facts.
buckmaster1 3 years, 7 months ago
Palin has more executive experience than Biden, Obama, and McCain. Enough said. It's sad that liberals can't admit that. She may be unliked by alot of people but the facts are that she has experience, even if it's only 20 months, thats more than everybody else. I Hate the fact that women bash her because 1. she is successful and has surpassed the "glass ceiling" 2. she is a strong christian and 3. they think she is backwards because she isn't from the elite washington insiders. It's sick that we finally find somebody thats everyday and normal like all of us and all we can do is bash her all day and call her stupid. Get real, her record speaks for itself. SO does Bidens, the third most liberal senator according to the bipartisan washington review, of course we all know that the number 1 liberal senator happens to be...you guessed it...according to his voting record, Senator Obama....hmmm that sounds so moderate to me, but according to the media he is the "uniter" of the people...gees I don't believe it at all. He's too liberal for America and way too liberal for Oklahoma.