Anyone who has watched the Democratic debates this cycle already knows that Biden has been at or near the top of the field in his performances in each and every debate. However, the media focus on the horse race - and correspondingly constant sniping - between the Big 3 candidates has largely left his performances relegated to brief mentions.
(Of course, his response to one question did get quite a bit of attention):
Well, I didn't catch the debate myself today (damned final exams), but the leading second-tier candidate seems finally seems to have gotten some first-tier accolades today, because the first two assessments of the debate that I came across both handed the victory in the debate to Biden.
Quotes and brief analysis below the fold.
First, and most importantly, David Yepsen of the Des Moines Register listed Biden as the clear winner of the debate:
You can award Thursday’s debate among the Democratic presidential candidates to the second-tier candidates, especially Joe Biden.
Biden, Chris Dodd and Bill Richardson turned in some of their best debate performances of the 2008 campaign and were the day’s biggest gainers. Biden’s showing was the best of the day...
As for Biden, how can you lose when everybody else on the stage is praising your record on civil rights, literally applauds you, and the front-runner offers testimony on your behalf? You can’t. And unlike some of his past debate performances in which he seemed strident or comical, Biden was cool, commanding and presidential in this one.
He also gave props to the only other candidate who is on my to-vote-for list:
Obama leads in the polls, and he seemed content to play a more passive role on the stage Thursday. That was probably a good strategy on his part, and he looked very presidential as he praised rival Biden’s civil-rights record...
Obama got in one of the best tweaks of the day when he was asked about the advisers he has who once worked for Bill Clinton and whether he could break from the past when so many of his people were old Clinton hands. Quipped Obama: "Well, Hillary, I’m looking forward to you advising me as well."
I'll say this - if Biden gets the endorsement of the Register this weekend, he'll have a real, legitimate chance at a Top 3 finish in Iowa.
Meanwhile, Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post website lists Biden first among the debate "winners":
Joe Biden: Biden was extraordinary today. Not only did he speak specifically and with authority on issues both foreign and domestic, he was able to tie all of his arguments together under the umbrella of taking action and setting priorities. Biden also beat back the toughest question of the day when moderator Carolyn Ashburn asked him whether his past verbal gaffes in relation to race reflected a level of discomfort with the issue. "I got involved in politics because of the civil rights movement," Biden said with real emotion, adding that his career in the Senate reflected that commitment. When he finished speaking, all of his rivals offered a "huzzah" for his answer. Biden also played to Iowans' vanity by praising them as the foundation of democracy and asserting their right to be first. A complete performance by The Fix's Iowa darkhorse.
Obama showed again why he's one of my top choices by turning that bullshit question back around on the bullshitting moderator. He scored yet more major points with me by coming to Biden's defense. Anybody who has (1) bothered to look at his record; or (2) talked to the guy knows that Biden is not racist.
As I said in a diary last night, I always thought that the whole hullabaloo about Biden's comments on Obama was way overblown. I'll leave you with the cut-and-paste job I did on it last night in a comment:
I've always thought the response to that whole thing was way, way overblown though. Here is what Biden actually said:
[Barack Obama is] the first mainstream African-American [candidate for the presidency] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man.
Basically, I don't think the second part of the sentence (everything starting with "who is") was meant to apply to anyone but Obama, and I think the words "articulate" and "clean" were badly misinterpreted. My personal interpretation is that Biden meant to say something along these lines:
[Barack Obama is] the first serious, mainstream African-American [candidate for the presidency]. He is eloquent, bright, clean-cut, and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man.
Unfortunately, he didn't break up the sentences, he substituted the word "articulate" for "eloquent," and "clean" for "clean-cut" (which I've actually heard used before). "Articulate" is one of those words that can mean multiple things. When applied to a politician, though, it clearly means "eloquent" rather than "able to speak the language without stuttering," which is how some people seemed to take it. But you can search online and find numerous uses of the word being used to describe the speaking abilitie[s] of JFK, RFK Jr., Bill Clinton, and...John Edwards
The only part of that statement that should have generated even a little controversy was his characterization of Obama as the first "mainstream" candidate. But...that's actually true. Obama is the first African-American candidate whose views don't take him outside of the mainstream of American politics, and who has a level of respect nationwide sufficient to give him a legitimate chance of winning.
Shirley Chisholm's run was a "statement" run - it was historic, bold campaign to be sure, but one that even the people involved conceded was not designed to result in an actual victory. It was meant to show that women could run for president. Jesse Jackson had a core constituency that never really expanded beyond about 1/2 of African-American Democrats (the King and Abernathy families have NEVER liked him), and undermined whatever hope he ever had of being the nominee when he called NYC "Hymietown." Sharpton and Braun didn't stand a prayer, and everyone knew it.
That's just my take. Of course, no one will ever know for sure what Biden meant except Biden.
In any case, I'll keep an eye on the polls. Anyone know if there's a website that is showing the whole debate?