Biden gaffe a success
8/27/2008 - 11:02pm
The only speech slip that Joe Biden-watchers noticed Wednesday night won wild cheers and laughter for the vice presidential candidate known for well-meaning, but at times embarrassing, gaffes.
After describing a country filled with uncertainties about it's future, Biden said "That's the America that George Bush has left us, and that's the future George - I mean John - McCain will give us."
If teleprompters are to be believed, the flub was unscripted. But it did fit in nicely with one of the major themes of the convention: McCain equals Bush, a sentiment plastered all over the red placards that DNC staffers are foisting upon convention-goers.
So, happy coincidence or planned mistake? No telling. But Biden's habit of inserting his foot in his mouth has already earned him his own gaffe countdown clock on the Republican National Committee Web site.
And less than a week after Biden cinched the VP nomination, his penchant for unfiltered chattiness and questionable word choices has already surfaced, albeit on a more minor scale than his primary-era slips.
At a women’s economic roundtable hosted by Michelle Obama Tuesday, he addressed the crowd as “mostly ladies. Thank God for small favors.” The remark prompted surprised chuckles from the audience. Earlier that day, Biden showed a tendency toward the emotive when he teared up during intensely personal remarks to his home state delegates, a group he said help him through times of tragedy.
And at the Springfield, Ill. stop where his nomination was announced, he introduced his running mate as “Barack America.”
During the Democratic primary, he referred to Obama as the first “African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” drawing fire for perceived racism in the intended compliment.
Wednesday night, he frequently slipped from the teleprompter, but quickly recovered. The speech thoroughly thrashed McCain's record, but lacked the luster of Sen. Hillary Clinton's blockbuster speech the night before. And Obama, in a surprise visit, upstaged his No. 2.
The Obama campaign has told other media outlets that it doesn't plan on reining in the loquacious senator from Delaware. His everyman mistakes may help make him even more relatable, a quality that helped him win the veep nomination.
But before the Obama camp chose Biden, it chose his communications staff, according to the New York Times.
It falls to traveling press secretary David Wade – formerly spokesman for would-be president Sen. John Kerry – to keep the veteran Delaware senator on message.
Another seasoned pro, Ricki Seidman, joined up as Biden’s communications director out of the campaign’s Chicago headquarters following her stint in the Clinton White House press office.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
Beth Robinson wife of Matt Robinson
Also speaking Wednesday night was Beth Robinson wife to Major Matt Robinson a Marine who works at the Naval Safety Center in Norfolk Virginia investigating accidents. Below I have copied her speech prepared for her.
DENVER, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a transcript of a speech, as prepared for delivery, by Beth Robinson, stay-at-home mom from Hampton Roads, Virginia, at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, August 27, 2008:
Scheduled for delivery: August 27, 2008 - 7:00-8:00 pm MT
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
Beth Robinson
Democratic National Convention
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Good evening. I speak tonight as the wife of a United States Marine. I am an advocate for military families, a college graduate, stay-at-home mom, community volunteer and a disabled person living with Multiple Sclerosis. Most of all, I am a proud American.
And I see in Senator Obama the leadership, judgment and knowledge that will bring the change we need in the United States. Senator Obama asked ordinary Americans to answer his call to service. I answered, and here I am!
As Michelle Obama said, military families know the pain of an empty seat at the table. We endure the uncertainty that comes from deployments and war. But we do not complain. With unquestioning devotion, we proudly serve our nation.
Military families are grateful for our medical benefits. But I am appalled by the state of the health care system in our country and frustrated by the limitations of military health care, which is inadequate and underfunded.
Barack Obama extended health care benefits for military spouses in the Senate and will honor our nation's commitment to military families as president. And I know that President Obama will make health care affordable and accessible for all Americans.
Military families frequently receive orders to move and do so without hesitation. Yet the lack of quality housing on bases has caused distress and financial burden. The state of our economy has left many service members facing foreclosure or financial ruin.
America's respect for our service members must be reflected in how our government cares for them. Equitable pay and retirement benefits, access to quality housing, health care and counseling, consistent availability of on- base childcare and schools, accessible referral and support services for active duty troops, reserve, veterans and their families are not negotiable. These will be Barack Obama's priorities as president.
Senator Obama recognizes the importance of military families and has asked for our input. He started military family roundtables to give military families the chance to communicate our concerns. As president, he will create a military families advisory board and actively support family readiness groups as part of his vow to "keep faith with those that serve."
That's the change that our military families need. He will restore America's role as the world's moral leader. Barack Obama is the commander-in- chief we've been waiting for.
Thank you.
Website: http://www.demconvention.com//