On the 20th of February we observed here that Michael Dukakis forced Joe Biden out of the running for the 1988 Democratic nomination with a slur regarding plagiarism:
In 1987, Joe Biden ran as a Democratic presidential candidate. When the campaign began, he was considered a frontrunner because of his moderate image. However, the campaign ended when he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party. Though Biden had correctly credited the original author in all speeches but one, the one where he failed to make mention of the originator was caught on video. In the video Biden is filmed repeating a stump speech by Kinnock, with only minor modifications. “Why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go a university? Why is it that my wife . . . is the first in her family to ever go to college? Is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright? . . . Is it because they didn’t work hard? My ancestors who worked in the coal mines of northeast Pennsylvania and would come after 12 hours and play football for four hours? It’s because they didn’t have a platform on which to stand.†After Biden withdrew from the race it was learned that he had correctly credited Kinnock on other occasions. He failed to do so, however, in the Iowa speech that was recorded and distributed to reporters (with a parallel video of Kinnock) by aides to Michael Dukakis, the eventual nominee. “…when the truth emerged Dukakis was forced to fire his campaign manager, John Sasso, and political director, Paul Tully – the two who had orchestrated the maneuver,†but Biden’s campaign could not recover.
In early January, after the Iowa caucuses, I said…
Who’s left on the left following the Iowa kaffee klatch?
Obama — driving a bandwagon worth boarding
Edwards — surprisingly aligned with better intentions, except for the haircut
Clinton — if all the girls from Wellesley were laid end-to-end I wouldn’t be a bit surprised (apologies to Dorothy Parker)
Richardson — aligned nicely with Edwards and Obama, but no media budget, I guess
Kucinich — boldly instructed both his Iowa caucus delegates to line up with Obama, Still my main man.
Gravel — “I do not think anyone who voted for the war is morally qualified to be President of the United States.â€
Dodd — gone, buh-bye
Biden — maybe 2024 will be better for you, Joe. We’ll miss the gravitas you brought to the campaign. Or something.
And just this Tuesday I said:
It looks like Joe Biden will be Obama’s running mate. I wish Ms. Helen had lived to see it. Biden is the perfect choice:
* He’s never had an illicit affair with Ann Coulter
* As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has the foreign policy experience that Obama lacks
* As the Senator from Delaware he has had forty years to cultivate relationships throughout the global corporatocracy
* As a 65 year old, he closes the Obama/McCain age gap
* He still respects the views and expressions of Neal Kinnock
* He won’t have that little political piss ant Michael Dukakis biting his ankles this year
* He’s articulate, bright, and clean and a nice looking guy.
Now, with the Secret Service surrounding his home in Delaware, we either have the makings of Cheney’s last stand and we will see all the Democrats in jail tomorrow morning, or (as seems more likely) Senator Obama has invited Senator Biden to be the next Vice President of the United States of America.
I’m as happy as can be!
[tags]gravitas, Joe Biden[/tags]
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