“Vice President Biden, in a very candid moment, which he enjoys, flew into LaGuardia and said, ‘You fly into LaGuardia, and you think you’re flying into a Third World country.’ Now, that was a slight overstatement, slightly insensitive, slightly insulting. But, basically true.”
— New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), quoted by the New York Observer.
In a visit to Iowa, Vice President Joe Biden referred to former Rep. Neal Smith (D-IA) as his “old butt buddy,” the Des Moines Register reports.
Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to be in Iowa next week, the Des Moines Register reports.
“The news comes in the wake of the release this past weekend of a new Iowa Poll that shows Biden trails both Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren in the horse race for most popular presidential pick among likely Democratic caucusgoers.”
“Biden’s timing suggests he wants to keep his name in circulation as presidential material – any time top-shelf politicians make a trip here it reinforces the notion that they harbor aspirations for the top job.”
Wall Street Journal: “Potential presidential candidates — top-tier contenders and long-shots alike — have already spent years quietly laying groundwork, building email lists, recruiting staff, and generally doing the scut work of building an organization on which to call if they flip the switch and launch a 2016 campaign Mr. Biden, who said this week that he is still weighing a presidential run, is one of the few potential candidates with no political organization, nonprofit, foundation, or campaign staff-in-waiting.”
Vice President Joe Biden told ABC News that he might run for president, even though he trails Hillary Clinton in polls by more than 40 points.
Said Biden: “Yes, there is a chance. But I haven’t made my mind up about that. We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then. There’s plenty of time.”
He added: “I think this is wide open on both sides.”
“We’re starting it in July of 2011 and we’re going to be totally out of there, come hell or high water, by 2014.”
— Vice President Joe Biden, quoted by the Telegraph in 2010, not foreseeing President Obama’s expansion of the military effort in Afghanistan this month.
[speech_bubble type=”std” subtype=”a” icon=”pwdome.jpg” name=””]Brace yourself for hell or high water. [/speech_bubble]
“The next two years may be when Joe gets his last, best chance to help run the show,” David Hawking writes.
“Joseph R. Biden Jr. is preparing to celebrate his 72nd birthday next week and has been sending really mixed signals about where he’d like to take his career in 2016. But regardless of whether he decides to launch his third uphill campaign for president, the 47th vice president of the United States is positioned by the force of his experience, personality and circumstance to be among the indispensable players of the 114th Congress.”
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) “put the kibosh on the idea of impeaching President Obama during a nationally television Fox News interview, telling his broadcast audience that booting the commander-in-chief from his office would open the doors to something even worse,” the Washington Times reports.
Said Gowdy: “Have you met Joe Biden?”
Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) had some very interesting things to say to Time about dealing with Vice President Biden.
Said Cantor: “I just think that the President obviously doesn’t have the tenure in Washington in negotiating deals that the Vice President’s had. Just in terms of pure time. And I think that the President is very rooted in what he wants. The President also, in my view, is very rooted in what he thinks the other side wants. And that’s where the difficulty in my opinion has been with the President over the last six years. If one does not agree with the President’s view of what you want, there’s very little prospect for a result. Joe Biden has a real sensitivity, not only to human reaction, but also partisan and political sensitivities. He understands how far you can push before you just blow up the prospects for a deal.”
He added: “Joe Biden is what you see. You know, he’s genuine. Yes, he’s prone to gaffes publicly, and he’ll admit that. He’s very self-deprecating like that. And I’m certainly not one who agrees with Joe Biden on all things—we probably disagree more than we agree—but from a human and relationship standpoint, the guy’s awesome.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
More about Taegan Goddard →