Unfortunately, after making this clear, Biden rambled on interminably as his wife and President Obama gritted their teeth and looked embarrassed. I didn’t think Biden would ever stop. Interestingly, Obama had nothing to say. I had gotten the impression that he was going to speak about Biden’s decision.
I’m thinking what must have happened is that Obama called Biden in and told him to stop undermining the serious candidates as well as Secretary of State Kerry and quit playing game with the media. But Biden acted as if he is everyone’s choice and he needed to advise all the other candidates on what needs to be done. It was painful.
Thank goodness it’s over.
Post your thoughts and links below. It should be interesting reading the media reactions.
Comments
74 responses to “Biden Announces He’s Not Running for POTUS”
NYT: Joe Biden Will Not Run for President.
WHEW! That’s a relief.
So Biden’s dream of becoming Prevaricator in Chief is now dust: good.
lol
I thought Biden’s statement was heartfelt and moving. Pure Joe.
He made the right decision. I sensed a feeling of relief in his voice. Now he can move forward with his life. I wish him and his family well.
Hillary quick response was classy………pure class.
The windbag finally made his announcement. Now let’s move on.
Unfortunately he also announced that he won’t remain silent. So I guess we can look forward to him continuing to undermine Hillary and Bernie.
I just slapped my Hillary bumper sticker on my car.
Girl……What took you so long?
I don’t know. I live in a mostly GOP neighborhood so I was reluctant at first. But I went ahead today.
Screw ’em!
Damn somewhere in all these files, I have the Ready for Hillary sticker. Which ones do you have?
Biden is delustional and should never been allowed to spew his ‘delusions’ on the Democractic Party. He is still spewing his trash talk. God help us if anything hapens to Obama. Bidens comments the last couple of days were crazy. Obama must have stepped in to put a stop to his mouth. Jill Biden has my sympathy. Joe just crashed any good will toward him from me. It was all me, me, me.
It has always been about him. He just covered it up a bit with that always present shit eating grin.
I just wonder what it is that makes him hate Hillary. Jealousy perhaps?
Howard Fineman, in an article today, said that Biden thought the Clintons were “craven.” He didn’t explain why.
Probably jealousy.
I found his comments to be a bit rambling.
His usual demeanor.
Well he finally got off the pot. He had a lot of good moments during his political career. I’m remembering how he ate Paul Ryan’s lunch during the veep debates in ’08 but he squandered much good will with his latest dithering. His claim to have been in favor of the attack on Bin Laden after already claiming to have been against it went beyond the pale even for crazy Uncle Joe. Too bad. I wouldn’t wish his personal tragedies on anyone. I’m glad to see him finally do the right thing.
If he had just kept quiet during this process of deciding instead of visiting Late Night TV and going on speaking gigs around the country where he attempted to feather his on nest, I would have been much more comfortable with his decision taking so long. I know all people grieve differently, but his public grieving process made me very uncomfortable.
Going to Maureen Dowd — a known Hillary Hater — with the Beau Death Bed Plea to Run story was Joe at his lowest.
Yeah, I’m not going to second guess his grieving because none of us knows how we would react to the same level of grief. And I even think that the fact that he considered stepping into the race may have been to save face because after all, he is the veep and therefore he would naturally be expected to have the full support of the party to run for president and he did not. Kind of an insult to him. I can’t forgive the cheap shots at Hillary though. That was unnecessary. No surprise that she rose above it.
I may be misremembering, but wasn’t one of the attractions to Biden as VP, that he would not be threat to Obama by scheming to be the successor? That and they needed an old, experienced guy on the ticket.
Yes, I remember it too. It was assumed all along that Biden wouldn’t run in 2016. I still think Obama is the one who told him it was time to stop playing games.
Hm, he is against the D Party it seems. We have had nothing but obfuscation, lies, kabuki from reptards. They destroyed the middle class and made the poor’s lives worse. Joe has been talking sheer crap – making no sense whatsoever. This sense of entitlement, total disregard for truth – is so over weaning by most politicians. It’s a sickness, megalomanic. All assisted by MSM. Joe was NEVER for the middle class, jeebus, look at his record. The public is dealing with crap everyday – made up kabuki shite. It was tragic to watch his announcement and if Joe continues to spew, well, it’s his record, it’s his golden years submissions. Sad.
Good. Now he can go down in history as everybody’s favorite funny VP instead of the guy who put the final nail in the DNC coffin.
I don’t dislike Biden. I think he is funny and kind of likable. A bit of a creepster, but still. A little loose with the truth, and not so good on the attribution thing, but a cool enough guy. Not bad as Obama’s sidekick.
However, if he had chosen to undermine Hills at this moment I would have had to hate him passionately till my dying breath. I recognize that he has as much right to run for president as anyone else does but still, I would have HATED him forever. I make no apology.
To quote Paula Deen, “I is, what I is…”
Reactions from politicians–Bobby’s Jindal’s is at the bottom.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-bernie-sanders-react-joe/story?id=34630414
Piyush Loser Jindal does his usual Hillary Hate tweet. Knock yourself out PIYUSH!!!
You need to drop out Piyush. As the old saying goes, PIYUSH or get off the pot!!!!
Hilarious.
I hate Piyush almost as much as Dak!! 🙂
I should have said I hate Piyush almost as much as Dak hates Piyush! 🙂
PIYUSH? Help me out, I know it’s gotta be funny.
Piyush is Jindahl’s actual first name.
Never mind. I looked it up. I had nicknamed him Donkey-Boy because something about his ears made me think of the little boys who got turned into jackasses in Pinocchio.
Well, Piyush was born a jackass.
You all are cracking me up.
Don’t cry for Joe Biden. Now, he has plenty of time to go hunting with his dear friend, Dick Cheney.
And his other “dear friend” Darrell Issa. Joe Biden is an idiot!
His good friend Darrell Issa, the first chair of the Special Hillary Hate Committee.
Yep, he made that statement last week.
I think Joe is struggling. In today’s press conference he looked like a beaten man and much older. There was really no reason for him to tout Darrell Issa as his friend accept to take a bit of a dig at Hillary. Very cheap of him. He needs to keep being the VP and quit trying to influence people away from Hillary.
Are maybe a date night with Bob Gates.
Or………….maybe a date night with Bob Gates.
Oh lord, I was at an important appointment, and got the call from my husband. “I’m calling to make your day, I love you, and Biden’s not running.”
That was sweet.
LOL!
What a sweetheart he is.
It’s one thing to be a loyal VP. It’s another to blindly assume your predecessor’s policies are perfect. Biden’s forgotten that Democrats used to have a strong record of championing workers’ rights and environmental protection. So glad he’s not running.
Nothing became him in his political life so much as the manner of his leaving it — months of indecision, snippy innuendos, and a rambling, over-long speech.
yes, I caught that too. It seemed like he was trying to jab at Hillary for disagreeing with Obama. WTF? Why is she supposed to be a carbon copy of him? It’s not like she’s dissing him, just disagreeing on some things. That just pissed me off. Throughout all of this, she has not said word one against Biden.
Every time, I look at that picture of Biden up above, I start to giggle because I hear that song from the old musical “Guys and Dolls”-Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat.
lol
One of my very favorite musicals, Sue. Stubby Kaye singing that as “Nicely Nicely” Johnson.
My house is cleaned. My laundry done. I have cooked in advance of tomorrow’s umpteenth Benghazi hearings.
CSPAN is covering it, not sure about other channels, but I will be there from beginning to end.
Think hard, you know who else will cover it besides CSPAN. The name begins with Fox and ends with News. After she finishes testifying they will edit it and spin it back to their diehards to make it look like the GOP got her, when in fact what is going to happen is she’s going to kick their asses. 🙂
I can’t wait, Pat. I plan to watch except when I have to take my mom to a doctor’s appointment at 1PM. I’m hoping they will break for lunch around then.
What’s you got in that pot Pat? I tell you I have a file on Benhazie that I printed out, starting 2012……2014, pulled them out and organized them by dates. Then went to my digital files, and have those available also. I have some good ones, Ralph was on top of it here too.
I can’t help but ask, how many committee’s were formed under Bush, when 60 people where killed. How many?
The other thing that smacked me in the face was CIA and Petraeus, why hasn’t be been called before this select committee?
So, are you going to lead us in discussion tomorrow. You are doing a fantastic job, and I like what you are seeing and hearing, and talking about. I’m in. I am going to wear Blue tomorrow too.
Blue for skydancers, and Hillary looks best in blue. Color me BLUE.
Here’s what Hillz had to say about Joe stepping down…
Read more at http://wonkette.com/595187/wingnuts-piss-all-over-grieving-joe-biden-because-thats-what-they-do#kjRTRuCoG26sgHmq.99
This administration tried to do some good things; didn’t get too many of them done, except by half-measures. To my mind, the overarching worst aspect was the failure to actually go after the ultra-dangerous ideologues who now populate the Republican Party at all levels. They are not our respected colleagues; they are unscrupulous people who want what they want; never mind science, observable facts, logic, or intelligence. Trying to make deals with them is a foolish pursuit. And it is going to get worse, because someone like Boehner, who is a pretty sad excuse for a political figure, looks like Daniel Webster, comparied to what he will be replaced with.
So it is more than about time for the Democrats to stand up against the Republicans, and fight them in every state, to try to break their increasing stranglehold on state and national governance. The idea that we will fruitfully try to work with them, is a dangerous illusion. You don’t offer “grand bargains” which risk Social Security and Medicare; you don’t keep giving them extortion payoffs to keep them from shutting down the government or not raising the debt ceiling. Oh, you can talk about comity, and you can be willing to try to find common ground, for appearance if nothing else; but this group of Republicans is unquestionably the enemy; not just of the Democratic Party, but of this country’s progress and even survival. And someone needs to say that, over and over, until the voting populace actually grasps what is at stake.
I agree with you. A dangerous group of ideologues is becoming more and more powerful but I’d like to see some of the “moderate” Republicans stand up to them as well. They have power if they threaten to jump over (and some of them actually do) to the Dem party. I’m seeing the split in the Republican party in some of the local races in my own very conservative districts and it is real. The Tea Partiers have no interest in working with the moderates. As you said, they want what they want. They are dumb, intractable, and have no interest in enlightening themselves to anything because that would undermine their ridiculous positions. It is indeed frightening but I think it will take some courage on the parts of moderate Republicans to stop them. The Dems don’t stand a chance without some help from the other side.
I do not at all hate Joe Biden, and I am certainly sorry for his tragic loss. And I am glad that he finally decided not to run. And he certainly did seem to do a solid job as Vice President. And he was strong against Ryan in the debate; maybe made the case better than Obama did in his debates. So he certainly deserves appropriate praise for those things.
But it is not at all appropriate for him to take shots at HIllary Clinton, who never took any at him. If he indeed cares as much about the future of the country as he seems to, then he must know that Hillary is by far the best person to advance and save our democracy and planet. And if he differs with Hillary on this or that issue, that’s fine, but you don’t do it publicly. Hillary was cheated out of the nomination in 2008, through illegal caucus fixing, and the DNC arbitrarily canceling primaries and handing out delegates as they chose. And yet Hillary somehow kept this to herself, and actually strongly campaigned for the Obama-Biden ticket. I wouldn’t have done it, but she did, because she truly cares about the country. And she didn’t go around during the campaign, suggesting how Obama should do things.
William, thank you for pointing out Joe Biden’s good qualities in your first paragraph. He has been a strong asset to Obama, providing decades of valuable experience in Washington to a man who had been in Congress for only a short time when he was elected President.
I was moved by Biden’s statement today that if he had become President, he would have wanted to end cancer. I hope he will work toward that goal after he leaves office.
Ego is a wicked tonic. Joe Biden’s picture should be on the label. As much as anything he wanted people to want him to run. He wanted people to want to love him. He wanted the constant hunt for adoring minions.
His Tiny Joe turn in the Rose Garden today proved he was willing to say just what he thought everyone wanted him to say about getting along and cooperating. Fine Joe, say it, but we all know doing the same thing again and again and getting the same result is insanity. The horse hockey of loving on the Republicans until they say “Uncle” and walk hand-in-hand into the sunset ain’t gonna happen Joe. To believe there is a parity between Republicans and Democrats on government and governing is a false equivalency of intergalactic proportions.
We saw an ego slightly larger than Montana try it from 2009 to 2011 — it didn’t work for Obama on anything and ended up electing a Republican House majority likely to plague us for at least another five years.
Joe Biden is a decent man — probably a good man and I’m sorry for his tragedies, but the average Joe schtick is a masquerade of the highest craven solicitude. He folded on Anita Hill, on women’s rights until he had to sponsor legislation to get him off the hook, and judicial appointments. He’s not a superman and whether he would admit it or believe it, he’s not much more than average.
I’m obviously on the wrong blog these days. Sorry I can’t join in the hate fest.
Sorry, Beata. I’m sure Biden is a nice guy, but praising Dick Cheney and undermining Hillary Clinton isn’t going to help the Democrats. Getting Clarence Thomas onto the Supreme Court helped no one IMHO.
I hope Biden does decide to do something to fight cancer. I’m glad he isn’t going to run for POTUS though, because he would be humiliated and I think that would be painful to watch.
Beata: I can never forget his work to curb laws regarding sexual assault and domestic violence.
Benghazie Attack Facts: October 2012
http://www.factcheck.org/2012/10/benghazi-timeline/
Here General Hamm says he offered Ambassador Chris Stevens, not once, but twice, military support, and he said NO.
Fox News went with a stand down. The republicans don’t want to admit the fact that Chris Stevens took a big risk.
Another thing to remember is that Host countries are responsible for providing security at consulates. We did have military station at the embassy in Tripoli.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/05/14/2576166/amb-stevens-twice-said-no-to-military.html
Here’s good article re: Benghazi shenanigans:
http://www.newsweek.com/benghazi-biopsy-comprehensive-guide-one-americas-worst-political-outrages-385853
Thanks for the link!
Paul Ryan could not get the Freedom Caucus: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/paul-ryan-freedom-caucus-speaker-215041?cmpid=sf
Proof that the Benghazi investigation is totally unlike any others –
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/10/21/3714507/benghazi-hillary-clinton-terrorism-investigations-congress/
Released by democrats, just this morning in full testimony of Cheryl Mills on Benghazi:
http://www.redding.com/news/wire-news/new-testimony-shows-clinton-devastated-by-behnghazi-attack
Trey Gowdy is despicable.