by Smitty
Is there any chance that President Obama will dump Biden from the ticket, as some are urging? I don’t think so. The Obama campaign, more than anything else, is feverishly trying to preserve the illusion that everything is going fine. Replacing Biden would be seen as an act of desperation and–even worse from Obama’s perspective–an admission of error.
Obama is about winning. Everything after the tactical consideration, even the long-term security of the country, is something “We’ll get to.” Biden is a liability to the campaign of a daily increasing magnitude. A reporter is going to bring up the Medicare question, for example, and Biden is going to blame state-level mismanagement.
Biden, don’t you know, is ‘experiencing early-onset Alzheimers’, or something. The narrative will shift to what a swell, compassionate guy Obama has been to keep Uncle Choo-Choo ’round these years. Alas, Obama, as a servant of the American people, cannot avoid the hard decisions. Obama has to put his deep affection for Biden aside, and accept Joe’s inability to support the ticket again this fall. With much weeping. Make sure the light hits them alligator tears.
Biden’s gaffes will be reported with increasing frequency and faux emotion between now and the DNC in Charlotte, starting on 03 September. Joe’s ‘illness’ (I’m not a doctor, he may have a no-kidding problem) will be a great, big, fat, emotional freebie. Joe becomes the human sacrifice, savaged by the plans of the evil Republicans. Barack is the savior of the AARP, fighting off that young wolf Ryan, who’s going to fix everything until thoroughly destroyed, don’t you know? Sorry that Ryan was able to take out Uncle Choo-Choo. Or did Biden bravely lay down his political life for the cause? A little martyrdom ain’t so bad, as long as it doesn’t thug any halo from Obama.
The major flaw in my theory is: Who replaces Joe? Who has the national name recognition to enhance the ticket, while posing no intellectual threat to anyone with a reading level above fourth grade? Who brings in the donors and freshens things up, while knowing how to lay by their dish? Do you trust Hillary? Can ManBearPig be persuaded that he can suck up a third VP term, if that’s what it takes to please Al Gore, Sr.? Do you try to counter the Ryan wave with some out-of-the-blue gutsy call?
I guess we’ll have to wait and see what Valerie Jarrett decides. More at Ace of Spades.
It is the one card he has to trump Romney’s pick. At least Sarah Palin called him out on it real quick like. So, he either has to listen to Sarah Palin (LOL) or, his surprise announcement has just been hindered.
Biden out, Kirsten Gillibrand in. You heard it here first.
But will Uncle Choo Choo go quietly into that political good night? I don’t think so; his ego is as big as any other politician’s, and bigger than many.
I still don’t see why neither side will pick me :)… At this point the people are on auto pilot and unless we snap out of it, we will be stuck with 4 more years of failure.
I don’t believe that Obama will admit failure on this or any other issue.
Elizabeth Warren. She has exactly the kind of ethnic props that the Democrat establishment likes best: phony.
I suggest KG the other day, though. Does she have the national recognition?
OK, then you get the credit. 🙂
Yes she has national name recognition among the all-important-to-Obama feminut NARAL activist set. They adore her. She’s Catholic, but pro-choice which gives the Dems a powerful voice against the Bishops (she’s best buds with the Nuns on the Bus). And she certainly poses no intellectual threat to anyone.
[…] McCain seems to believe that Biden will be out as VP soon, and gives some pretty good reasons why. Obama is about winning. Everything after the tactical […]
Not happening. Obama is constitutionally unable to admit mistakes, and this would mean his Biden pick ended up being an error. Nor will his ego permit any running mate who might challenge his primacy in any way – in other words, no Clintons.
Ooo, BURN! lol
It’s about as safe a bet as you can make. He’s out — no question. One just needs to understand the Left, and then understand them in crisis. Biden is out (it will be “voluntary”) and Iran gets bombed.
So Obama will show panic and mayhem within the administration’s highest levels? It’s happened before but not so big.
She’s still too ‘up-stage-y’ for an ego as big as Oblamer’s.
Of course “O” isn’t going to openly “dump” Joe because that would be admitting he made a mistake and worse that he truly IS willing to throw anyone under the bus to remain in power. But that certainly doesn’t mean Joe won’t go, say, because of some serious new found medical condition or other personal reason. Likely it will come down to W.W.J.D. (what would Jarrett do) union and other backers who will do whatever is deemed necessary to keep their boy in power. OTOH….Uncle Joe knows where all the dead bodies are so it’s likely going to be a pricey proposition if they want him out to win.
Agreed but too many other problems with Warren, and most still gestating. She’s also too ideologically “sharp.” The Gillibrand theory makes sense. He needs someone identifiable enough to Left but not so much that the MSM can’t sell to independents.
Exactly, plus NOBODY upstages Val Jarrett or challenges her authority.
Word.
Oh I almost forgot about that ‘diva’.
Maybe he could get that “pansexual” mamacita from El Paso on the ticket – she allows him to check off a bunch of boxes all at once:
Female
LGBT/Other
Hispanic
Young
What’s not to love?
If this happens, he will pick a sodomite.
You don’t get the narcissistic, sociopathic cruelty that is Barack Obama. He will let Biden get destroyed in the VP debate, then announce he is dropping him from the ticket now that he has someone else to blame. That way the new meat won’t have to face Ryan.
If that is too late in the campaign to drop Biden, he will suddenly have health concerns that cause him to resign the office and then Obama can try to tease votes out of various Democratic niche groups by pandering and implying his new VP choice will be one of them.
Jim McGreevey!
Not sure, but I guess “Harry Reid’s Most Attractive Member of the Senate” is a decent counter to Paul “Hey Girl” Ryan, if nothing else.
Another reason to keep Biden around is that he’s still a great way to trial balloon really horrible attack tactics (e.g., chains). Sure, some in the media have started waking up to his idiocy, but will the press recover from the gaffe of not covering for him? I suspect they will.
A couple of points here.
Ed Morrissey makes an excellent argument that Obama will not replace Ol’ Plugs as his running mate.
Ace makes the same argument on less data, but points out one critical item: President Zero has until the Dhimmicratic Convention to make the change. After that, by law, Biden stays on the ballot.
So, while I agree with the analysis that Sheriff Joe stays, I expect the pressure on Obama to mount to deal with that idiot’s mouth. Which, in the past, was handled by locking Biden in a cage. That ain’t gonna happen, not with the campaign in full swing.
Thus, if the Dhimmicrat’s Presidential ticket does change (and I concede it’s possible, just unlikely), it’ll happen soon, and it’ll be spectacular.
More likely: Biden’s staff will ride herd on reporters, and Biden will get a severe reaming from The Won about not going off script.
A far-fetched scenario for a desperate Team Obama, but offered for the record, because I don’t trust the bastards:
Biden remains the Veep candidate, but sometime before the VP debate suffers a medical problem rendering him unfit for office, or at least unavailable for the debates and the rest of the campaign. Say, a heart attack or a stroke. The man is 70 years old, after all.
This way, Team Obama punts on the VP debate, pulls another bait-and-switch on America, and shuts Biden up. Even if Biden has to remain on the ballots, Obama could always appoint a replacement VP should he win the election.
It’ll look like a move that any banana republic dictator would pull, but we are discussing Obama, after all. What else is he, really?
I’ll take that Bet Smitty, people who are actually in the know understand it is the top, not the bottom of the ticket that is the trouble here.
That was my thought as well. Sarah may have gotten wind that he was contemplating such a change and then did her best to make it politically unpalatable for him by recommending he do just that. Now if he wants to strengthen his ticket he will look like he is taking advice from Palin.
Whatever you want to say about Sarah she is really, really savvy about this stuff.
Not even Michelle — let alone TOTUS.
There is no way the Biden would get elected to any office outside of Delaware. OK, maybe another northeast state is sufficiently palsied. But I don’t think CA would have him, and IL would move him to the ‘down under’ voter category.
You used by law and Democrat in the same sentence. By extensive experiment, proven not blendable.
Biden may have to stay on the ballot, but it a way that makes it easier for Obama. He can promise ALL his interest groups the inside track on his VP appointment after the inauguration.
Bill Quick is spot on. When has Obama EVER admitted a mistake or that anything was his fault? The most responsibility he will take is “I didn’t explain it to you hicks well enough.”
Palin made it a poison pill with her suggestion, too – it could only have been better if she DEMANDED Biden be dropped. We should all start demanding his ouster now, it is the safest way to keep Slow Joe: the Gift Who Keeps On Giving.
At this point, after three top shelf physicals showing him in tip-top physical condition, no one would buy it.
You make my point from a different direction, Richard. That’s why I referred to it as a “bait-and-switch”. But they will attempt to at least pretend to following the law; that’s The Chicago Way™, after all.
And your point about using this as leverage with the special interest groups that he panders to/depends on is spot on. Maybe this scenario isn’t so far-fetched after all.
“Down under”, as in “down under Lake Michigan”, no doubt.
Not gonna happen, especially after Palin made the suggestion the other day. As Ed Morrissey noted, no one would believe a sudden medical crisis at this point. And Biden can’t keep his mouth shut now, who thinks he would if dropped from the ticket? Really?
I have no doubt Obama wishes there were a way, but there isn’t – without making him look weak and desperate and attentive to Palin.
To ensure Biden stays on, all conservatives have to do is DEMAND his ouster. #BootBiden – it will give that added insurance if you are nervous.
Hmmmmmmmm……..misdirection, or just P.O.’d at being one-upped by Sarah Palin?
“Axelrod Won’t Rule Out Biden Being Dropped, Tells Joke Instead“
Yeah. To get that gigantic sodomite vote, which is mostly in California, Illinois, and New York, which numbers less than two percent of the population, and which, as I note above, is concentrated in states there is no way Obama can lose, even if he replaces Plugs Biden with Fred Phelps.
They were going to drop him, then Biden upstaged the President on gay marriage. That kept him in the game, even though with Chick-fil-a it has turned out to be a losing game. The problem they have now is that they are boxed and Biden has to agree to go. Watch for the #GiveUsHillary hash tag. Public pressure will be the only way to get Biden out.
Would Obama take Sarah Palin’s advice and pick Hillary?
Certainly diabolical enough to be plausible.
I take it Hillary told Obama not only “No” but “Hell, NO!”
You are correct Bill, but I think Hillary telling him to shove the VP slot may have helped too.
Of course she was probably more diplomatic than that (she does run the State Department). She probably just demurely covered her mouth with her hand and giggled.
[…] Take a Sporting Interest Posted on 16 August, 2012 by wjjhoge Smitty offers to bet John Hinderaker the beverage of his choice that Joe Biden gets replaced on the […]
I’ll betcha dinner at Chick-fil-A that Biden stays on the ticket.
I have my reasons. http://hogewash.com/2012/08/16/ill-take-a-sporting-interest/
To quote Allahpundit:
Hmmmmmmm………..
I’m not sure Biden getting dropped and a “mystery” VP candidate being promised is actually a recipe for electoral success. Most voters will perceive it correctly as a flailing President that doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing that stinks of desperation.
Now if months ago they found a drama-free way of getting Biden off the ticket and replacing him with Hillary, I would agree that would help Obama, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.
Biden is not going to go willingly, that I’m sure of. And it’s in Hillary’s interest to be as far away from Obama as possible.
I say Biden stays on, and I’ll bet a CASE of any beverage on that.
The fact that a blood-lusting baby butcher happens to be a Catholic sinner as opposed to a Protestant or atheist doesn’t really sell so well among the faithful, and among the non-faithful it never mattered anyway.
Palin made it a poison pill with her suggestion….
Exactly. I heard a lot of critisim of Mrs. Palin on TV and radio by conservatives for doing what she did and each time I wanted to shake them violently, slap them upside the head, and shout: ‘Dingbats, she did this on purpose so Barry would have to keep Joe Hill Biden on the ticket!’
Don’t forget that she is incredibly annoying when she speaks because every sentence sounds as if she’s talking to a child.
Who could forget?