By William L. Garvin
Apparently Joe wasn’t satisfied with the ignominious face plant he suffered while getting “too far out over his skis” on gay marriage. Not a week had gone bye before he felt it necessary to channel his inner Howard Dean and scream at an audience in Youngstown, Ohio. The union members who had been bused in seemed particularly energized by his rage at the machine outburst but reports say many more onlookers were totally nonplussed by his histrionics.
Maybe they were actually paying attention to what the Vice President was saying. Maybe they were also wondering how Joe gets away with it all. What qualifies him to speak for blue collar workers and the middle class? Just like his boss, what are his actual qualifications?
First of all, he got his Bachelors from the University of Delaware in 1965 and his JD from Syracuse in 1968. His biography says he worked as a public defender and in private law practice. However, he served on a local County Council from 1970-1972, and was elected to the United States Senate in 1972 at the age of twenty-nine. His private sector experience was extremely limited and he has been a career politician for forty-two years. He’s not exactly what anyone would call “blue collar.” He may try to deny it but he’s a beltway insider through and through. Nonetheless, he’s the presidential pit bull and as his boss comically said “nobody messes with Joe.” Maybe that’s because no one can understand Joe!
The presidential strategy is pretty clear: demonize venture capitalists in general and Bain Capital in specific. They put together a two minute television ad for five swing states and a six minute website blast. The centerpiece is GST Steel, a mill in Kansas City, Missouri, that declared bankruptcy in 2001. Bain Capital had purchased it in 1993. "Everyone lost their jobs," Biden and the ads lamented. There’s one little problem, Romney had left Bain Capital two years earlier to run the winter Olympics! As is all too common, the “vampire” charges can’t stand the light of day. Curiously absent from the ads are any mention of all the other steel mills that shut down that were not owned by Bain Capital. Also absent is any mention of union intransigence when it came to contract negotiations or foreign nations, notably China, dumping steel on the American market.
It’s also interesting to note that the Obama campaign picked Youngstown, Ohio for the “shout out” by the Veep. Supposedly, good old blue collar Joe would be able to capitalize on his popularity in the middle of the rust belt. “They don’t get it! They don’t get who we are!” he shouted. Democrats think Republicans don't understand the little guy in fly over country. Apparently, career politicians do…except for the One who disdains those in the heartland who are “bitterly clinging to their guns and their religion.” Certainly that would appeal to the deep pocket San Franciscans he was wooing in 2008.
However, all is not doom and gloom. "There are signs of hope in the heartland," said Joltin’ Joe, alluding to Obama’s economic policies. It is true that Ohio’s unemployment rate has dropped by three points in the last two years. Of course, that’s when the Buckeye State and Republican Governor John Kasich started balancing the budget, building up reserves, and talking about cutting income taxes. It’s the same in Wisconsin with Governor Scott Walker, despite the all out assault from the unions. They are creating jobs and attracting businesses in those states. Of course, in California businesses are fleeing because of high taxes and mounds of regulations. Naturally, Democrats want to increase taxes and add more regulations. Maybe Governor Brown can get VP Biden to come on in and help out. Or maybe he can get George Clooney to organize some fundraisers.
In the meantime, we’ve got Joe Biden, one heartbeat away from the presidency, out there as the President’s spokesperson screaming and shouting what can best be described as nonsensical gibberish. To paraphrase the famous Ann Richards quote, “Joe can’t help it...he was born with a pseudo-blue collar foot in his mouth.”
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