Vice President Biden to Democratic Base: 'Stop Whining'
September 27, 2010 4:58 PM
ABCNews.com-->At a fundraiser in Manchester, NH, today, Vice President Biden urged Democrats to "remind our base constituency to stop whining and get out there and look at the alternatives. This President has done an incredible job. He’s kept his promises."
The remarks, made to roughly 200 top Democratic activists and donors, recall comments President Obama made last week to “griping and groaning Democrats…Folks: wake up. This is not some academic exercise. As Joe Biden put it, Don’t compare us to the Almighty, compare us to the alternative.”
Today’s fundraiser was held at Stoneyfield Farm, a leading producer of organic yogurt, frozen yogurt and ice cream, for Rep. Paul Hodes, D-NH, who is running for Senate; Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-NH; and the New Hampshire Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign Committee.
The Vice President said that "every one of these (races) is winnable" if the candidates draw clear distinctions between themselves and their GOP opponents.
Acknowledging that voters are angry, the Veep said, "You take it out on those who are in office…They should be able to be angry with us. If we make this a referendum on the current state of affairs, we lose, and so that’s why we’ve got to make this a choice."
-Jake Tapper
September 27, 2010 in 2010 Midterms, Jake Tapper, Joe Biden, Obama, Barack, President Obama | Permalink | Share | User Comments (21)
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If the Rebublicans gain control of the House and Obama then vetoes every initiative between 2011 and 2013, will Obama then be the "obstructionist"?
Posted by: LongT | Sep 27, 2010 8:05:40 PM
Ryan C. condescendingly suggested he had breaking news. Not sure anything intelligible actually was actually transmitted, however.
For the record, this has nothing to do with Nader. And if Ryan took a remedial course in reading, he might see that I was NOT suggesting the "one" of the two party options was a viable way out.
What I was doing is pointing to the need for a strategic decision. Obama probably can, for two years, veto the worst of what the Republicans will try to impose. In firing Summers and Emanuel, Obama is "playing" to his base, though he also knows he will continue to serve Wall Street rather than Main Street. The point is that nothing will change by reelecting Pelosi and Reid, and nothing will change if the Dems lose both chambers of Congress.
What is necessary is for the public to blame both parties equally in 2012, and for a vacuum to be created. Naomi Klein is no slouch on strategy, and no slouch on reality. She is calling for precisely the kind of VIABLE 3rd party that I refer to, one that could capture a plurality of votes in 2012.
It will probably be the only way to stop the Tea Party in 2012 since the wheels are already coming off the two party system.
Posted by: mdgr | Sep 27, 2010 8:04:02 PM
Rahm to Joe; "Damn Joe! I didn't mean for you to insult our base with a gross generalization like whiners! Barrack, what can we have Joe do between now and November that he won't screw up?"
Posted by: LongT | Sep 27, 2010 7:58:02 PM
Glad they included the Dem fundraiser at Stoneyfield Farm info.. no need to buy that anymore.
Posted by: Jimmy | Sep 27, 2010 7:54:20 PM
I am comparing you to the alternative Biden. Mickey Mouse is looking pretty good about now!
Posted by: Todd | Sep 27, 2010 7:19:39 PM
Looks as if the rats are jumping ship. All those promises from the annointed one, and he can't with a straight face say he accomplished a thing except to raise unemployment, raise the deficit, and pass money around to his union faithful. No wonder he has Biden telling his base that he has kept his promises. Biden will say anything.
Posted by: Todd | Sep 27, 2010 7:16:59 PM
"The writing's on the wall. If we want to give the nuclear access codes to someone like Palin, we'll vote Democrat in 2010.
Otherwise, we make a bank shot, hoping that things will favor the creation of a viable progressive/ independent party (Naomi Klein's call) in 2012."
Ahhhh the Nader principle in hoping things will be so bad one will become the only viable option.
Sorry to break it to you but the GOP just put that into action.
Posted by: Ryan C | Sep 27, 2010 7:12:12 PM
CND FOX:
"Lesser of two evils" has ALWAYS been the two-party talking point, and Obama has been the most dramatic example yet not just on how it doesn't work, but of the fact that both parties are inextricably joined at the hip. "Biden is correct" only for those who wish to continue that codependent game. I, frankly, do not.
For those who say a third party can't be formed, review your history. This is not just an unprecedented time, but a major third party (Tea Party) just formed and is in some places displacing Republicans. Perot captured 19% of the vote previously. Finally, major voices such as Naomi Klein are calling for precisely that -- a monster third party of progressives, indies and disaffected Dems.
The Democratic Party is well funded, however, and it has been known to pay people to reiterate the same old talking points about the "goodness" of the lesser of two evils, and the notion that we need to keep playing the game because resistance is futile.
Obama, however, is a fraud. So is Pelosi (voted for every war budget Bush ever proposed) and Reid. The entire Democratic Party is, and it is collapsing. I have voted Dem all my life, but never again. If took Obama to irrevocably alienate its "whiny base," but in the end it occurred.
I still think a public bonfire of 1 million ballots on television would be very helpful in persuading progressive Democratic legislators to resign from that party, a la Bernie Sanders. It could be a media tour de force.
One could get duplicate ballots if they liked and still vote for a few initiatives that they cared about, etc. No one would be the wiser.
Posted by: mdgr | Sep 27, 2010 6:58:33 PM
He is calling for the young to come out and vote because a vast majority of them do not realize the mess we are in.
I personally think he snubbs American tradition every chance he gets.
Posted by: NanaS | Sep 27, 2010 6:45:14 PM
"mdgr"...Biden is correct. There are only two choices. The formation of a "third party" is a pipe dream and will never happen. And if you are a middle class person or moderate or educated independent...you have one and only one choice. The Democrats. Unless you want the GOP (lap dogs of the rich) or the tea partiers (lap dogs of the dumbed down base) taking control and sending us back to the failed policies of the past.
Posted by: CND FOX | Sep 27, 2010 6:35:03 PM
Don't burn your ballot. Write in "Public Option" or "DADT" or whichever policy the Dems failed on hurt you the worst for the federal offices. Don't punish the down-ticket state people, they tend to actually stand for their convictions.
Posted by: glarbl_blarbl | Sep 27, 2010 6:22:10 PM
. After the most disappointing president in several decades (I didn't say "worst," just disappointing), we are again being asked to pick the lesser of two evils.
If the Dems win in 2010, they will lose in 2012. By then, things will be much worse, and Obama will be unelectable. Moreover, no viable progressive/independent third party will have yet been formed. Think Weimar, 1932.
The writing's on the wall. If we want to give the nuclear access codes to someone like Palin, we'll vote Democrat in 2010.
Otherwise, we make a bank shot, hoping that things will favor the creation of a viable progressive/ independent party (Naomi Klein's call) in 2012.
Obama will veto the worst of any Republican legislation in the next two years.
I'd call for the burning of one million ballots from Biden's "whiny base." Let it occ ur on TV.
That would be an incontrovertible message to the Democratic Party and the lobbyist-owned DNC behind it.
Posted by: mdgr | Sep 27, 2010 5:58:55 PM
It's amusing to watch the administration turn on the professional left. They seem to be the last people to do so.
Posted by: TheLastBrainLeft | Sep 27, 2010 5:56:53 PM
Bast to Obama: **** ***!
Obama:" Health care is a right."
Yeh, right.
Posted by: bebe and boby | Sep 27, 2010 5:55:21 PM
Rahm to Joe; "Go out there and get those fence strattlers...here's your talking points." This is soooo obvious.
Posted by: LongT | Sep 27, 2010 5:53:11 PM
Promises? Not really. The bills passed did far too little, and caved to the special interests. He did nothing for most Americans, and absolutely nothing for the middle class.
Biden has demonstrated some absolutely poor behavior, for a Vice-President of the US. I consider him a total embarrassment.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | Sep 27, 2010 5:52:52 PM
Afghan SURGE?!
Posted by: Sick and Tired | Sep 27, 2010 5:44:31 PM
President Obama campaigned on increasing the war effort in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Stan | Sep 27, 2010 5:49:27 PM
"This President has done an incredible job. He’s kept his promises."
JOBS? Wasn’t that a “major focus”? How’s that “three-letter word” working out for you Biden?
How was your summer? Feeling the “recovery” yet?
I'm not sure why you're insisting on blowing smoke there, but it's really not doing anything for me Biden.
Posted by: Ertdfg | Sep 27, 2010 5:48:15 PM
I'm getting a bit tired of Biden knocking the base around. We've been defending them for months now and the latest slap in the face came with DADT! I mean Guantanamo Bay is STILL OPEN! Rendition expanded?! Afghan SURGE?! Patriot Act renewed?! I can't take much more of these broken promises. You know what Joe, I'll probably be staying home on election night. At least the wingnuts aren't being insulted by their leaders. Bring on Hillary for '12. Barack and Michelle will need a(nother) vacation.
Posted by: Sick and Tired | Sep 27, 2010 5:44:31 PM
Financial giveaway bailouts + little to no foreclosure aid, corporate health care giveaways, ABYSMAL civil liberties record, massive increases in military/intelligence spending, mercenary wars and permanent bases in Iraq/Afghanistan that endanger the American people, continued support of Israeli crimes(ditto), BP coverups, likely cuts in social security...
The "whiners" aren't shooting blanks here--these are serious issues of corrupt and inept governance. The groupthinkers just don't get it: people see what they are doing and don't like it. Thus they don't vote for you. Welcome to the real world, and get ready to start drawing unemployment like the rest of America.
Posted by: SB | Sep 27, 2010 5:31:53 PM
Remind me which promises Obama has kept with his base? Was it closing Gitmo, or passing the Public Option? No wait, it was bringing the troops home from Iraq (all but 50,000 of them, right?).
Meh, if this is what the Democrats can do with a supermajority.. I really don't see what benefit we get by voting for them.
Face it, with Rahm Emmanuel calling the shots we get called names while the Administration checks with Fox News before doing anything. I'm not impressed.
There is no one in this government speaking for the left wing of this country. Our choices, apparently, are nutjobs on the far right or corpratist center-right "Democrats".
PS, the individual mandate is the most insulting piece of *ahem* legislation I have ever had the displeasure of reading about -- much less anticipating having to comply with.
Posted by: glarbl_blarbl | Sep 27, 2010 5:25:50 PM
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Monday, September 27, 2010
Vice President Biden to Democratic Base: 'Stop Whining' - Political Punch
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