Biden plays a numbers game, perhaps to his disadvantage

For an East Coast guy, Joe Biden last week showed a laudable awareness of a different part of the country. But a barb he directed at Bill Richardson left us wondering whether he's lost touch with his own roots.

Biden joined Richardson and several other Democratic presidential contenders at a forum in Davenport, Iowa, sponsored by AARP (formerly the American Assn. of Retired Persons). Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, touted his experience in the executive branch of government, as is his wont (it distinguishes him from the plethora of senators -- including Biden -- he's running against). In particular, Richardson extolled his efforts to expand health insurance coverage within his state.

Biden, perhaps tired of hearing Richardson's rap for the umpteenth time, decided to offer his own contrast, this one on governing New Mexico versus the entire country.

"My good friend from New Mexico, God love him," Biden began, using a trademark phrase. "His state's a couple million people. Give me a break. He can pull that together. Pull together 300 million people. That's like saying, you know, 'I played halfback when I was in high school; I can play in the pros' -- a different deal."

Point well taken. But it also sent us to the U.S. Census Bureau for its latest population estimates. New Mexico: 1,954,599 (Biden was on the money). Delaware (his home state): 853,476.

So, using his analogy, it appears Biden's been playing politics in the ankle-biter league.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[Stephen Cassidy]

Thanks for catching this. Under Biden's reasoning he's a lesser senator than Clinton and Obama because he comes from a smaller state. Plus, how many employees does a US Senator have - 50 to 100? That's the size of a small company. How many employees does the state of New Mexico have? 10,000-20,000? That's a huge corporation. Whom has more executive experience: Biden or Richardson? It's zero for Biden verse 5 years and counting for Richardson. There is a reason we haven't elected a Senator as President in over 40 years. Richardson has performed well as Governor - he has a vision for the state and worked hard to implement it. That's the leader America needs. Richardson will bring fundamental change to America if he's President.

[South Carolina Democrati]

It's obviously a completely different comparison to say that Biden is less a leader because he is a Senator from a smaller state. Richardson was particularly lauding his "executive experience" which drew the prescient analogy from Biden. Biden's a legislator in a body designed by our framers to make all states equal. Therefore, no matter how large a Senator's state they are equal with the other 99 Senators. That's the point of the institution.

This article only serves to highlight one point that seems ever clearer: America (and you Don Frederick) need a Civics lesson.

[Kevin]

The difference, and the point, is this: Richardson's policies affect 2 million people. Biden's policies affect 350 million people.

[Steve Fallon]

For all Richardson's "foreign policy" expertise, who do the leaders of the world first call when there is trouble? Richardson? No. Bush? No. Hillary? No? Barack? Not a chance. Biden? Oh yes. They call Joe Biden.

[Richardson]

Wasn't it Bush that called on Bill Richardson to negotiate with the North Koreans and eventually got them to begin the process of dismantling their nukes?

Wasn't it Richardson who called on the United States when he was in Turkey in 1999 to render aide when it suffered the devastating Izmit earthquake? (Compare this with Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina, Richardson provided immediate response to a disaster that had killed over 17,000 people)

Wasn't it Bill Richardson who helped bring 5 presidents of various nations to sign the Ankara Declaration? (The Declaration provided efforts for the peace building process between the West and the Middle East including the Israeli - Palestinian issue. It also called for the rejection of Islamophobia and Westernophobia - calling for an ongoing dialogue between civilizations.)

Wasn't it Clinton the one who called Richardson the go to guy for really bad situations?

I must be confusing that with Joe Biden. It was Bill Richardson who got these things taken care of. Richardson's policies in the present do affect the people in New Mexico, but they are setting an example of the possibilities of what could happen in the future. In the past Richardson has presented that he could do things on large scale and on the world scene for America.

Give Bill a break.

[Biden]

Don Frederick's bio to the side of this page notes that he attended Northwestern University. One would think a graduate of such a fine academic institution would have developed the necessary analytical skills to understand what Biden was trying to say.

Biden was not saying that Richardson was unqualified to be President because he comes from a small state. Rather, he was rather saying it would be dumb for Richardson to suggest that because he had successfully provided healthcare for the state of New Mexico that he could do the same for the United States (providing healthcare for 300 million is a "different ball game" than providing health care for 2 million). Mr. Frederickson's point about the Census statistics is therefore unnecessary, and inapt.

Either Mr. Frederickson completely misunderstood Biden, or he is being disingenuous. For the little coverage Biden manages to get from the media, the least one could hope for is that it be accurate.

[Lynne]

Biden's not as myopic as the article here suggest. Biden doesn't just represent the state of Delaware. He's also chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee. So his experience goes well beyond the borders of the USA. He has also been responsible for legislation that focuses on the entire country, and the world, which considers every person in the world.

If California thinks they should rule him out, for what was obviously an accurate statement, I think you better get the oxygen ready, because Iowa is about to tell every state, just how much they think of him. And, in a good way.

I'd also like to suggest that people in the media stop knit picking all of the candidates, in desperation for something to report. Interesting that a few weeks ago, there was nothing in the media coming out about Biden, or the other candidates from California, and now that Iowa is getting closer, you all are trying to dish the alleged dirt to influence the direction. I think I can speak for a large percentage of the population when I say that we are SICK of the media, and their BS, snarky fables.