January 3, 2008, 9:58pm
Today’s caucuses in Iowa marked the end of the longshot presidential runs by two of the four U.S. senators in the race. Joseph Biden Jr. of Delaware and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut barely registered in the first vote of the year. Here are their farewell speeches:
Categories: Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Politics, Joseph Biden Jr., Christopher Dodd
November 15, 2007, 10:41pm
NEW YORK — At the Networked Journalism Summit here today, Jacob Soboroff of the election reform group Why Tuesday mentioned a video encounter he had with Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Biden Jr. at a Cosi sandwich shop in Washington.
Earlier this year, Why Tuesday asked all of the presidential candidates to submit videos outlining their plans for election reform. There have been no takers so far. But Soboroff had a videocamera with him at lunch that day, so he put the question to Sen. Biden of Delaware, who at first resisted the idea of an on-camera interview but later relented.
“You wanna reform elections, support my total public financing of elections,” Biden said. “The amount of money in these campaigns is obscene.” He also called for mandatory paper receipts to confirm ballots cast on e-voting machines, among other ideas.
UPDATE, 10/24: Democratic candidate Christopher Dodd was put on the election reform spot after a debate in South Carolina during the summer, and Why Tuesday just put the video online. “Each state wants to do this differently,” Dodd said. “Standards ought to be the same. But allowing states to decide how best their people want to cast their ballots is something I’d be reluctant to say that the national government ought to tell everybody exactly how you’re going to vote.”
I’ll update this post with more video links as they become available.
UPDATE, 11/4: Why Tuesday now has video thoughts about election reform from 10 of the 16 presidential candidates — six Democrats and four Republicans.
The latest videos are from: Democrats Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson; and Republicans Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo.
None of the Republican frontrunners — Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney — have taken the Why Tuesday challenge. The group also has video of GOP candidate Fred Thompson walking away from an opportunity to answer questions from Why Tuesday’s Soboroff.
UPDATE, 11/15: Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Edwards have taken the Why Tuesday challenge, bringing the overall response to 12 out of 16 candidates.
Categories: Producer's Picks, Politics, Technology, Joseph Biden Jr., Government Reform, Voting Rights
August 1, 2007, 10:55pm
Categories: Delaware, Politics, Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., Joseph Biden Jr.
July 30, 2007, 12:02pm
Jered Townsend of Clio, Mich., touched a nerve of Sen. Joe Biden during last week’s CNN/YouTube debate when he grabbed his assault rifle and asked the Democratic candidates what they would do to protect “my baby.”
Biden’s response: “I don’t know that he is mentally qualified to be owning that gun. I’m being serious…. I hope he doesn’t come looking for me.”
Well, Biden’s nightmare has come true. Townsend is looking for him — to come to Michigan and see the gun in question for himself, shoot it at a local shooting range there and then explain why he thinks such guns should be banned. Or if that plan doesn’t work for Biden, D-Del., Townsend said he would be happy to go on CNN and debate Biden about gun control.
“If you have a felony, you shouldn’t have a gun,” said Townsend, who also extended the offer to Biden via an interview with the Reason magazine blog Hit & Run. “I myself have no criminal background. I am free and clear. … I am an average citizen with a hobby, and this happens to be it. … I’m not a criminal, and I’m not mentally unstable.”
You can hear all of that and more, including a tutorial on assault weapons, in Townsend’s new 10-minute YouTube video.
The Politico reported last week that after the debate, Biden e-mailed Townsend with his telephone number and even offered to go hunting in Michigan.
Sounds like an excellent photo op will be coming soon. And I can’t wait to see the YouTube video of the twosome on the trail (the one in the woods, not on the campaign circuit) — Biden with his 10-gauge shotgun and Townsend with his assault rifle. The poor deer don’t stand a chance.
Categories: Delaware, Gun Rights, Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., Presidency 2008, Joseph Biden Jr.
April 2, 2007, 10:44pm
The presidential campaign of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden has launched a Web site that pits their man against other candidates in the Democratic field.
Biden’s site, Head-To-Head ‘08, features clips posted to the YouTube video-sharing site and offers issue-based comparisons of Biden against his rivals. The first video-to-video clash is the war in Iraq, and Biden’s new Web site links to his “old” one, Plan For Iraq.
Head-To-Head ‘08 also is very “bloggy” in that in links to the campaign sites of Biden’s rivals and encourages readers to visit those sites for more information on the candidates’ views. Were that democracy-friendly design continue into the general election if Biden prevailed in his longshot bid for the Democratic nomination — or were it to be adopted by the eventual nominee — then it would really be innovative.
Hotline On Call offered this reaction to Head-To-Head ‘08: “The campaign says they choose the specific YouTube videos by judging the best presentation of the candidates’ position — either an official video, a video from a supporter or media appearance in which the candidate addresses his or her policy on Iraq directly. Nonetheless, picking and putting other candidates’ words in their mouths could leave the door open for a potential problem.”
Categories: Issues, Delaware, Iraq, Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., Presidency 2008, Joseph Biden Jr.
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