(Jake Turcotte)
Obama to Biden: Please quit talking!
By Jimmy Orr | 09.24.08
You just have to wonder when the day of campaigning is done and Barack Obama nervously reviews what his running mate, Joe Biden, had to say on the campaign trail if he doesn’t call him and do his best impersonation of Chris Farley saying, “I wish you could just shut your big YAPPER!”
With Joe Biden on the road, the hits just keep on coming.
YouTube
No one can underestimate the influence of YouTube in the 2008 campaign. The online video sharing website is often the starting point for a political brawl. Sure, reporters can be emailed a statement alleging that a candidate said something, but when the YouTube video is embedded or linked in the email, it makes it a heckuva lot easier to just hit that play button.
Yesterday, we saw what one congressman coined, “Senator Biden’s bizarre anti-coal rant.”
The so-called “rant” was caught on video and spread around the Internet yesterday. It showed Joe Biden meeting with supporters after an event in Ohio Saturday.
Here comes Joe
A woman, identified as part of a “clean energy organization,” questioned Biden about his support of clean coal technology when solar and wind technologies are “flourishing.”
“We’re not supporting clean coal,” Biden said. “Guess what? China is building two every week, two dirty coal plants. And it’s polluting the United States, it’s causing people to die.”
The woman followed, “So will you support wind and solar and alternate technologies?”
“Absolutely, before anybody did,” Biden said. “The first guy to introduce a global warming bill was me 22 years ago. The first guy to support solar energy was me 26 years ago. It came out of Delaware.”
Biden wasn’t done yet. He was on a roll.
“China’s gonna burn 300 years of bad coal unless we figure out how to clean their coal up because it’s gonna ruin your lungs and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Biden’s conclusion?
“No coal plants here in America,” he said. “Build ‘em, if they’re gonna build ‘em, over there and make ‘em clean because they’re killing ya.”
Oops
Everyone seems to appreciate Biden’s candor — except his own campaign. The problem is that Biden’s remarks contradicted what Obama said at the Democratic National Convention only a month prior.
“As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power,” Obama said during his acceptance speech.
Consistency
Although Biden’s remarks were not consistent with Obama’s, he at least was being consistent with himself.
In a 2007 article in an environmental magazine, Biden said, “Clean-coal technology is not the route to go in the United States, because we have other, cleaner alternatives. But I would invest a considerable amount of money in research and development of clean-coal and carbon-sequestration technologies for export.”
McCain reaction
Not surprisingly, the McCain campaign had a comment on the apparent inconsistency.
“Video doesn’t lie, but the Obama campaign certainly does,” said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers. “Senator Biden was very clear when he said, on camera, ‘We’re not supporting clean coal. … No coal plants here in America.’ Senator Biden’s sincere opposition to coal power shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the role it will play in securing our energy future, and its importance to American jobs and our economy.”
That’s not what we meant
The Obama campaign said the McCain response was “just another false attack from a dishonorable campaign.”
“Senator McCain knows that Senator Obama and Senator Biden support clean coal technology,” said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor. “Senator Biden’s point is that China is building coal plants with outdated technology every day, and the United States needs to lead by developing clean coal technologies.”
We love coal!
Both campaigns are now so pro-coal that within 12 hours of each other they both launched coal task forces.
The McCain campaign drew first blood with their “Coalition to Protect Coal Jobs.” It’s mission: “Protect critical coal jobs when they come under attack from the most anti-American energy ticket in history.”
The Obama campaign this morning launched the “Clean Coal Jobs Task Force.” It’s mission: “Work to promote the Obama-Biden agenda to invest in advanced coal-based technologies, create more jobs in the coal sector and enhance mine safety.”
Internal task force
No word if Biden will speak out against both of these new coalitions. But, channeling Chris Farley once again, one has to wonder: If Biden keeps this up, he could end up eating a steady diet of government cheese and living in a van down by the river!
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2. J Rome | 09.24.08
I can’t believe that you think, and I use the word loosely (a dig I use on myself ‘There I go thinking again’) two people should have the same view. Boy what a boring world it would be. In politics the road to our objectives is best traveled when looking on both sides. To go down the road with blinders on will keep you blind to the possibility what there are better ways. I believe in OBAMA, but there may be some of his ideas which are not on my side of the road. So? Should I change my mind and vote for mCpAIN?? Heck NO!! I know that the party has and should have a lot of input into a Campaign. That’s why we start the Campaign with a PLATFORM. I’m sure OBAMA has some questions on some items there. I’m sure I have questions. So I read the Platform of both parties, as we all should. BUTT to tell OBAMA to tell Biden “I wish you could just shut your big YAPPER” is no different they my telling you (Jimmy Orr) ‘I wish you could just shut your big YAPPER’ because right now I may not agree with you but tomorrow I want to read what your ‘YAPPING’ about. By the way !!! Can you see McShame and SARA McPain publicly disagree about anything or even thinking in public???????
wit love J Rome
3. Trish | 09.25.08
It seems a lot of the most ardent Obama supporters are disgusted with the Letterman/Olberman spectacle. Early morning talk shows that usually rave on and on about Obama were disgusted and dismayed at the vicious level this support of Obama has become. It was an all time low to make fun of McCain having makeup put on for the show. Anybody on television is made up. Even the beloved Obama.
I’ve always believed the wisdom of “look at who a person surrounds themselves with and I’ll show you who that person is”. Right now–Obama looks like a vicious clone for Bush with this campaign.
4. mimi362 | 09.25.08
Well I really don’t care what Obama has to say he is so new to all of this that I wonder if he knows what he is talking about at all. On the other hand I love Bided and even though he said what is on his mind it is usually very consistent with what he has always believed. So, am I upset that Obama doesn’t agree with Biden? No because Biden is right so I don’t think Biden has to shut up I think Obama needs to shut up.
Oh and as far as MCCain not going to the David letterman show- is he kidding did that warrant making fun of a Presidential Candidate? I give up on these idiots who think their show is all end. Get Over it their are much more important things in life than your stupid show.
5. obama clean coal | 01.29.09
Coal is burned in power plants to create steam, thereby powering turbines and generating both electricity and a diversity of harmful air pollutants. No matter how you look at it, there isn’t much clean about coal. The extraction and burning of coal is considered the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, including oil and gas.
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. G. Maynard | 09.24.08
Why is the media so up in arms about an off-the-cuff comment Biden made while they’re not reporting anything about McCain’s long-term and sustained attack on coal jobs?
John McCain has been on the attack against the coal industry for years, starting with legislation he proposed in 2003–Senate Bill 139, the Climate Stewardship Act of 2003–that would have just about wiped out the coal industry in the United States.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration released an analysis of S. 139 in May, 2004, which said the reductions in coal production under the McCain legislation was estimated to be 78 percent by 2025. Since it takes coal miners to produce coal, that would mean a drastic reduction in employment, most of which would have fallen heavily on more labor-intensive mines like we have in Appalachia.
But Sen. McCain was just getting warmed up. He teamed up with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) just last year and proposed climate change legislation–Senate Bill 280–that once again took a meat-axe approach to Appalachian coal.
In that bill, McCain specifically targeted Appalachian coal production for cuts of 30 percent or more, while encouraging production of coal from Wyoming, according to an analysis done of the legislation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Both Obama and McCain have proposed a variety of solutions to dealing with energy issues.
They both say that they want to reduce reliance on foreign sources of energy and build an infrastructure in America that relies on a mix of sources to meet the ever-expanding energy needs of our nation, while at the same time reducing greenhouse gases.