[Goober5000]

Or does he know something we don't know?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/biden-to-suppor.html

ABC News' Matthew Jaffe Reports: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., on Sunday guaranteed that if elected, Sen. Barack Obama., D-Ill., will be tested by an international crisis within his first six months in power and he will need supporters to stand by him as he makes tough, and possibly unpopular, decisions.

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. "And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."

Not only will the next administration have to deal with foreign affairs issues, Biden warned, but also with the current economic crisis.

"Gird your loins," Biden told the crowd. "We're gonna win with your help, God willing, we're gonna win, but this is not gonna be an easy ride. This president, the next president, is gonna be left with the most significant task. It's like cleaning the Augean stables, man. This is more than just, this is more than – think about it, literally, think about it – this is more than just a capital crisis, this is more than just markets. This is a systemic problem we have with this economy."

The Delaware lawmaker managed to rake in an estimated $1 million total from his two money hauls at the downtown Sheraton, the same hotel where four years ago Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., clinched the Democratic nomination. Despite warning about the difficulties the next administration will face, Biden said the Democratic ticket is equipped to meet the challenges head on.

"I've forgotten more about foreign policy than most of my colleagues know, so I'm not being falsely humble with you. I think I can be value added, but this guy has it," the Senate Foreign Relations chairman said of Obama. "This guy has it. But he's gonna need your help. Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, 'Oh my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?' We're gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I'm asking you now, I'm asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. Remember the faith you had at this point because you're going to have to reinforce us."

"There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, 'Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don't know about that decision'," Biden continued. "Because if you think the decision is sound when they're made, which I believe you will when they're made, they're not likely to be as popular as they are sound. Because if they're popular, they're probably not sound."

Biden emphasized that the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border is of particular concern, with Osama bin Laden "alive and well" and Pakistan "bristling with nuclear weapons."

"You literally can see what these kids are up against, our kids in that region," Biden said in recalling when his helicopter was forced down due to a snowstorm there. "The place is crawling with al Qaeda. And it's real."

"We do not have the military capacity, nor have we ever, quite frankly, in the last 20 years, to dictate outcomes," he cautioned. "It's so much more important than that. It's so much more complicated than that. And Barack gets it."

After speaking for just over a quarter of an hour, Biden noticed the media presence in the back of the small ballroom.

"I probably shouldn't have said all this because it dawned on me that the press is here," he joked.

"All kidding aside, these guys have left us in a God-awful place," he then said of the Bush regime, promptly wrapping up his remarks. "We have the ability to straighten it out. It's gonna take a little bit of time, so I ask you to stay with us. Stay with us."

A generated crisis?  This could be just Biden being Biden, but he sounded awfully sure of himself.  And he had a national security briefing not too long ago.

[watsisname]

Hmm.  I think "generated by whom" is the bigger question.  And of course the conspiracy theorists like to go nuts over that junk.

What I get out of this is that, regardless of who gets in the office, we are all going to have to deal with some major changes in the political and economic structure of this country.  Or maybe they just want to promise us that, because God knows we need it.  I'll start actually  listening to their promises when I see them start being fulfilled.

Edit:  Having just noticed it, nice bling, Goob. 

[Herra Tohtori]

There's a difference between generated and manufactured crises...

[Mongoose]

Could have sworn you said, "Is Biden president?" 

I don't know that he meant anything by it other than expecting someone out there attempting to test the new administration, but it is a strange way of phrasing it.  I don't know all that much about Biden personally, other than that the conservative-leaning people I knew at school in Delaware didn't look upon him too kindly, but I'll at least give him the benefit of the doubt.

[Akalabeth Angel]

Considering how prevalent racism is still in the world, if Obama is elected president is he still going to be alive 6 months down the road for this so-called crisis?

[NGTM-1R]

Considering how prevalent racism is still in the world, if Obama is elected president is he still going to be alive 6 months down the road for this so-called crisis?

I'll bet and take odds.

[Dark RevenantX]

Well, it's the same chance McCain has of dying.

Basically, the real question is not whether Obama is better than McCain, it's whether Biden is better than Palin.

[perihelion]

   Are you serious?  I'm not a fan of either Obama or McCain, and I still find that a rather daft statement.

[Dark RevenantX]

McCain is 72 and lived as a POW for a while, potentially he would be 80 years old after 2 terms.
Obama is (half) black.  You know how some of the more radically racist people can be...

I'd rather not see either of them die for obvious reasons, but the chance that it could happen within 8 years is higher than average.

[Mars]

The chances of Obama getting shot are rather lower than the chances of McCain dying of natural causes I think

[IceFire]

He's just feeding my worries for the future. I don't think you have to be prescient to know that there are a few flash points that are bound to come up...

Whoever is in office is going to need to be smart...and more than that...is going to need to be surrounded by some really smart people because the situations are going to be allot more complex than they have been.  Its going to be a tough job whoever they elect.

[BloodEagle]

The chances of Obama getting shot are rather lower than the chances of McCain dying of natural causes I think

 

[Colonol Dekker]

Sums it up well, but i'd rather have a go on Mccains vice pres milf..........

[Galemp]

Well... uh... anyway...

I think what Biden is referring to is that the last two presidents (Clinton and Bush) have each had a terrorist attack in their first year of taking office (1993 and 2001, both on the WTC.)

[Snail]

I think what Biden is referring to is that the last two presidents (Clinton and Bush) have each had a terrorist attack in their first year of taking office (1993 and 2001, both on the WTC.)

Same with Britain... Kinda. Them terrorists went at Gatwick airport, Brown's most commonly used airport, with a burning truck (but it failed).

Gordon Brown's balls fell off after that I think. I used to think he was cool when he was Chancellor.

[DeepSpace9er]

Joe Biden has been known to say.. foolish things (gaffes) pretty often. Maybe its from his brain aneurisms.

[TrashMan]

It's almost like he's setting up the nation for the upcoming hatered/fall of Obama.

Imagine if Bush did his election campaign like that.

"You're gonna hate me. You're gonna question my decisions. Things will get worse. ...yeah, but it will not be my fault, yada, yada, yada"

[Kosh]

Whoever wins the election is probably going to be a one term president. Tough choices need to be made, and the last president to try to seriously make changes was Carter (although to a lesser degree HW Bush later in his presidency) and we all know what happened to him (them).