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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2008 > August > 23
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Romney foes launch Web site
While all the hoopla seems to be focused on Barack Obama’s selection of Joe Biden as his running mate, Republican John McCain still has that job to do.
The social conservatives who don’t like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (pictured) now have a Web site devoted to persuading McCain that would be a bad choice. Click here to see http://www.socialconservativesagainstromney.com.
McCain plans a big rally on Friday, Aug. 29, at the Nutter Center at Wright State University and could be accompanied by his running mate - whether it’s Romney or somebody else.
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Strickland lauds Biden’s (relatively) humble roots
Ohio Gov., Ted Strickland, who knows a thing or two about humble roots, on Saturday, Aug. 23, applauded Joe Biden for having them.
Here’s a prepared statement from Strickland (pictured) about Biden’s selection as Barack Obama’s running mate.
“Joe Biden is an outstanding choice for vice president. His foreign policy knowledge is unparalleled, and his humble Pennsylvania roots give him a deep understanding of the challenges facing Ohio families.
Ohioans will have a clear choice this Fall—four more years of failed Bush economic policies under John McCain, or a new direction that will bring the the real change we need to Washington with an Obama-Biden ticket.”
Humble roots are a relative thing, apparently. Strickland grew up in Duck Run in southern Ohio in a house with an outside shower and plowed the fields behind horses.
Biden, according to “The Almanac of American Politics”, was born in Scranton, Pa. and grew up in the suburbs of Wilmington, Del., in a middle class home. His father was a car salesman and one grandfather was a state senator. Now 65, Biden has first was elected to the U.S. Senate when he was 29.
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Hillary gives Biden her OK
Sen. Hillary Clinton, the woman whom lots of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention wanted to see as Barack Obama’s running mate, gave her congratulations to the man who got the job - Delaware Sen. Joe Biden.
“I want to congratulate Joe Biden on becoming the vice presidential running nominee. Joe is a friend and colleague, a strong experienced leader and a devoted public servant.
“I look forward to not only seeing him in Denver next week but on the trail as I work to help Barack Obama and Joe Biden along with many other Democratic candidates campaign this fall,” Clinton, a senator from New Yorkl, said to her supporters in an e-mail message to her supporters on Saturday, Aug. 24.
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Redfern: Expect to see lots of Biden in Ohio
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., could provide a connection to blue-collar voters that will help Democrat Barack Obama in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania.
That’s how Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern was talking on Saturday, Aug. 24, as he arrived at the Curtis Hotel in Denver where the Ohio delegation to the Democratic National Convention is staying.
Ohioans should expect to see lots of Biden, born in Scranton, Pa. and the son of a car salesman, on the campaign trail, Redfern (pictured) said.
“He’s a compelling choice because of his vast knowledge of domestic and foreign affairs,” said Redfern.
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Owens on Biden
Montgomery County Democratic Party chair Mark Owens approves of Sen. Barack Obama’s pick for a running mate, he said Saturday, Aug. 23.
“He’s experienced, he’s good on foreign affairs, he’s good on domestic affairs - he’s what he was looking for,” Owens said. “He complements Sen. Obama.”
Owens said Biden’s working-class background will attract Ohioans who may have initially preferred Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., as the Democratic nominee.
“When you look at Sen. Biden’s background, he’s from a working class background, he worked his way up, he’s a strong family guy,” he said. “He’s the kind of guy Ohioans respect and like.”
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Boehner on Biden
Here’s the statement from House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, on Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., Sen. Barack Obama’s pick for Democratic vice-presidential candidate:
“Americans looking for a pair of candidates who are ready to fix a broken Washington aren’t going to find them on the Obama / Biden ticket. In Joe Biden, Barack Obama has not only found a running mate who doesn’t believe he’s ready to be President, he’s proven his opposition to an ‘All of the Above’ energy reform strategy to lower fuel costs for families and small businesses.
“John McCain’s comprehensive energy reform plan is supported by a broad and bipartisan majority of Americans who are tired of struggling with high gas prices and soaring utility bills. And he’s taken the bold step of calling on Speaker Pelosi to bring Congress back from its break to vote on House Republicans’ American Energy Act. McCain is a real reformer and the only candidate in this race who is ready to lead.”
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Biden reaction from local lawmakers
It wasn’t yet 9 a.m. before local lawmakers and political analysts began weighing in on Sen. Barack Obama’s vice-presidential pick, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.
“He was one of my top choices,” said state Rep. Clayton Luckie, D-Dayton, who said Biden’s foreign policy credentials - he is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - will help seal up concerns about Obama’s foreign policy experience.
Luckie also cited Biden’s more than 30 years in the Senate as helping shore up concerns about Obama’s relatively short tenure there. He predicted a “humungous” bump in the polls as a result of Obama’s pick. “This is going to be such a positive thing - it’s going to bump Sen. Obama so far that McCain will never catch up.”
Chris Duncan, chair of the political science department at the University of Dayton, said Biden’s working-class credentials would help attract some of the Democrats who had initially preferred Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. over Obama. He also cited Biden’s experience as a plus for Obama.
“This is a good solid pick for him,” Duncan said.
But former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, McCain’s Ohio chair, pointed to comments Biden made during the Democratic primary questioning Obama’s experience. McCain’s campaign leapt on those comments Saturday morning, quickly sending out a commercial emphasizing those comments.
“I think the Obama campaign has a problem,” DeWine said, saying Biden’s comments are “rather embarrassing for the campaign.”
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McCain gives Biden no honeymoon
Republican John McCain wasted no time trying to bring Democrat Joe Biden into the presidential campaign - on McCain’s side.
Democrat Barack Obama announced his selection of Biden, the Delaware senator, as his running mate just after 3 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23, with a text message. My e-mail from Obama arrived later, at 5:05 a.m.
An e-mail from the McCain campaign had arrived at 2:29 a.m. anticipating Biden’s selection and trying to use Biden’s past criticism of Obama against the Democrats.
The McCain campaign also launched a new TV ad - to run in “key states” - using Biden’s criticism of Obama and praise of McCain.
Here’s what the statement from McCain spokesman Ben Porritt said:
“There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama’s lack of experience than Joe Biden. Biden has denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing — that Barack Obama is not ready to be President.”
When Obama and Biden appear jointly later on Saturday in Springfield, Ill., Biden, no doubt, will have nice things to say about Obama.
Stay tuned to what Obama and Biden say about McCain’s running mate - whenever he picks one.
Here’s the new McCain ad:
