Gaffe-prone senator manages to stay (mostly) out of trouble
New York Times Oct 31, 08 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser)
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While the rest of the big three draw huge crowds and intense scrutiny, Joe Biden is out of the spotlight, rallying four-digit rather than five-digit crowds and generally dodging the national media. With higher favorability ratings than Sarah Palin but a well-documented propensity for gaffes, he shores up the base with a disciplined strategy that takes advantage of his strengths. The New York Times hits the trail.
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... by a thinner margin than they supported fellow Dem Kerry in '04
Voice of America Oct 30, 08 12:40 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Barack Obama has a big lead among Jewish voters, according to a survey by the American Jewish Committee. But his 57% support, to 30% for John McCain and 13% undecided, is “a bit lower than one would expect,” a group exec tells VOA News. At this time in 2004, John Kerry had 69% of the vote, which grew to 76% by Election Day.
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Party faithful split on politics but united in distrust
New York Times Oct 30, 08 7:18 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Vastly different crowds appear at the rallies of the candidates who started their campaigns calling for bipartisan unity, a roving New York Times reporter finds. Republican rallygoers shout to a country-pop soundtrack; the Democratic faithful dance to folk and Motown. Flag pins, pompoms, and patriotic songs define GOP gatherings, while Dems favor buttons and the word "change."
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ANALYSIS
Biden's gaffes are day-to-day curse for Obama camp, and blessing in disguise
Politico Oct 29, 08 10:40 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Will Joe Biden make it to November? The talky senator has so far managed to avoid major damage to Barack Obama’s campaign, despite a number of close brushes. But, notes Bill Nichols in Politico, there’s a week to go. While Biden’s favorable ratings are high and the Obama staff has been impressed with his ability to connect emotionally, the stream of minor gaffes is near-constant.
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OPINION
Weekly Standard Oct 25, 08 12:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
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“With 10 days to go before the election, it's getting pretty dark out there” for John McCain, William Kristol writes in the Weekly Standard . All the more reason for true conservatives to stand behind him "for the sake of the country," says Kristol, who's proud to stay off the "Obama juggernaut." He'd love to see an upset and revel in "the dejection of the mainstream media” and “the incredulity of the leftwing triumphalists.”
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From riches to rags, Joe Sr. stayed classy
New York Times Oct 24, 08 12:06 PM CDT
(Newser)
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To understand Joe Biden's approach to life and politics, look no further than his father, writes the New York Times in a profile of the candidate today. Biden has long trumpeted his dad's slogan on the campaign trail—"the measure of a man is not how often he is knocked down, but how quickly he gets up"—and both men have to had live out the credo.
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'Core point' correct that president will be tested no matter who wins
Chicago Tribune Oct 22, 08 4:35 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Barack Obama sought to blunt criticism of Joe Biden today, saying that though his running mate “engages in rhetorical flourishes,” he was right in saying “the next administration is going to be tested, regardless of who it is,” reports the Chicago Tribune . Critics in the McCain campaign had used Biden’s prediction of imminent international crises to underscore Obama’s foreign-policy inexperience.
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Gaps in VP hopeful's history raise some lingering issues
Associated Press Oct 20, 08 2:57 PM CDT
(Newser)
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As questions about the medical history of all four national candidates continue to circulate, Joe Biden released a cache of records today that indicate the 65-year-old VP hopeful is in good health, the AP reports. Like many men his age, Biden takes a cholesterol-lowering drug and has an enlarged prostate, but his records contain no information about recent brain scans. He underwent emergency surgery on a brain aneurysm in 1988.
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None of the 4 has disclosed all
health documents
New York Times Oct 20, 08 6:45 AM CDT
(Newser)
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With just two weeks until the election, none of the four candidates has released full medical documents—and one, Sarah Palin, has released nothing at all. The nominees' refusal to disclose their medical records is a major change from recent practice, when health information about Ronald Reagan, Paul Tsongas, Bill Bradley, and Dick Cheney was thoroughly scrutinized, reports the New York Times . All four candidates refused a Times request for a medical interview.
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Access Hollywood Oct 18, 08 1:28 PM CDT
(Newser)
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After being pilloried by gay rights activists, Ellen DeGeneres reportedly gave $100,000 to the No on Prop 8 coalition, which supports gay marriage in California, Access Hollywood notes. Along with the money, DeGeneres released a video on her website pleading with voters to not support the proposition, which would define marriage as between a man and a woman.
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GLOSSIES
Vogue Oct 16, 08 6:22 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The McCain-Palin team's affinity for Joe Six-Pack and Joe the Plumber gets the press, but the Democrats have their own champion of the average Joe (and not just because she's married to one) in Jill Biden, writes Jonathan Van Meter in Vogue . The prospective second lady—college professor; political wife who avoids the spotlight; mother of three who rocks “skinny, non-mom jeans”—“could turn out to be the campaign's secret weapon.”
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OPINION
Here's how to dump Bush in Nov., not Jan.
Boston Globe Oct 15, 08 12:35 PM CDT
(Newser)
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In the current economic morass, the US cannot afford to wait 9 weeks to install the new president after he is elected in November, Richard Tedlow and David Ruben write in the Boston Globe . But wait—doesn’t the Constitution dictate the date of the inauguration? “Changing that would take years, not days,” write the two Harvard profs. “But there is a way out…”
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