Brent Budowsky-Pakistan Crisis Makes The Case For Biden, Not Bush or Hillary

[jillan]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brent-budowsky/pakistan-crisis-makes-the_b_78456.html#postComment

This man was NOT a Biden supporter earlier this year.


Let's give credit where it is due. Joe Biden has been light years ahead of all presidential candidates in both parties, warning about Pakistan for years, being the only candidate to seriously raise the issue in the debates.


My hope for Iowa is that Obama and Edwards make a caucus alliance for change, joining together during the Iowa caucus at the local level to maximize the change movement.

There is no doubt, however, that if any national candidate was right about Pakistan, and earns major presidential credibility, it is Joe Biden.

The fact is, the Bush obsession with Iraq has endangered both the Afghanistan war, and Pakistan, as Afghanistan deteriorates because of lack of attention and allied support, and the problems spill over the border to destabilize Pakistan.

While Hillaryland will no doubt try to exploit the Pakistan crisis against Obama and Edwards, Hillary was guilty as charged from 2002 through 2006 for supporting the Iraq obsession, and guilt as charged in 2007 for joining the Iran hysteria and supporting the Lieberman-Kyle resolution.

It was Joe Biden and Joe Biden alone among the presidential candidates in both parties who warned, and warned again about the dangers of Pakistan, who offered constructive proposals to get out of Iraq, and opposed the Iran hysteria of Lieberman-Kyle.

If serious, deep, credible, long term national security experience is elevated by this sad and tragic event, it is not those who succombed to Iraq and Iran hysteria who should be touting their "experience".

It is Joe Biden who was far ahead of the curve, and far ahead of all other candidates, about the gravest danger in the region, which is the nuclear and unstable dictatorship of Pakistan.

[1corona4u]

1. Hate to break it to you, but it's on the board already, LOL...

no biggie.

[jillan]

2. Well then -

Let's get this on the Greatest and let everyone see it ;)

[1corona4u]

4. LOL, OK....

[gateley]

3. K&R -- Thanks!! nt

[jillan]

5. No - thank you Gateley.

:)

[JI7]

6. Biden has always led on this issue , long before today

[gateley]

7. Yes. I didn't even give Pakistan a thought until Biden mentioned it in a debate. nt

[jillan]

8. He was on fire about Pakistan v Iran at that debate.

My husband - and we all know his problem ;) - sat there with his jaw on the ground listening to Biden, praising him the entire time.

[ms liberty]

9. K&R - Thanks for posting, I hadn't seen this...

Biden is one of my favorites. He and Dodd are the most experienced of the candidates, particularly on foreign policy. I've watched Biden for years, and although I haven't agreed with him 100% of the time, I agree with him more often than not. I think he would be a great nominee for us. I think he'd wipe the floor with the Replican nominee in the debates because he's quick, he's tough, and he's plainspoken. His bluntness and obvious knowledge of the subjects, and his passion for them are very engaging.

[jillan]

12. Biden would be not only effective in the GE, he would also be

entertaining :)

A noun, a verb, and 9/11 --- there would be alot more of those.

[ellacott]

10. Thanks for the post

It sometimes feels like Biden is the only adult in this campaign.

[jillan]

13. Agreed.

[murbley40]

11. kick

[Evergreen Emerald]

14. Biden voted for IWR.

As did many of the other candidates. Yet Clinton seems to be the only one paying a price for it.

[Honeycombe8]

15. Biden is not top tier. So this means that this incident will help Hillary.

Another lower tier candidate it helps is Dodd. But neither Dodd nor Biden are top tier, and thus have virtually no chance of winning the nomination.

Wake up, folks. This is a race among Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. If Biden or Dodd or Duncan Hunter or Gravel or Kucinich could have broken through, it would have happened by now. Sure, Bill Clinton didn't win Iowa. But he had a ton of money and tons of supporters, and was polling high for other states. This is not the case with Dodd, Biden, Hunter, and others.

[1corona4u]

16. Did I fall into a coma?

Has Iowa voted yet?

I think you are way too premature in your opinion.

[medicswife]

17. Don't count him out yet!

I peruse the Iowa papers for mentions of Biden's events there, and they are growing by leaps and bounds. When I first started following his campaign, it looked like he was doing good to have 75 to 100 supporters at an event, now many of them are upwards of 200. I think that the word is spreading and that Biden is going to surprise people on caucus night.

[1corona4u]

18. The update I got today, from Beau, said the following;

It's often said that "seeing is believing."

Thursday night in Des Moines, we held a rally to kick off my Dad's Caucus Countdown tour -- dozens of events scheduled across the state for the final push before Iowa voters report to their caucus precinct.

It was a standing-room-only event, the most recent example of Iowa voters coming out in record numbers to see my dad as they make their decision about who to support on January 3rd. At each of these events, we see attendees stretching capacity and signing up to caucus for him at unprecedented levels.

The attendance numbers we're getting from campaign event organizers merely confirm what we already knew.


So I don't know.......

[PatSeg]

20. This is the way I pictured it happening

only this could be better than I had imagined.

[gateley]

21. Great to hear that -- I'm so happy -- thanks!! nt

[PatSeg]

19. Flashback, flashback

NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2003

CHOICE FOR DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE
(Democratic primary voters)

Now
Howard Dean
23%
Wesley Clark
10%
Joe Lieberman
10%
Richard Gephardt
6%
Al Sharpton
5%
John Kerry
4%
John Edwards
2%
Carol Moseley-Braun
1%

[Honeycombe8]

25. Kerry and Edwards were leading the Iowa polls a couple of weeks before Iowa caucuses....

Kerry was first, Edwards was second, Dean was third, and Gephardt was polling fourth. The Des Moines Register poll, for one example, was a poll of likely caucus goers.

That order is, in fact, pretty much how things ended up on caucus night in Iowa.

Kerry was also polling very well in New Hampshire in that time frame, and after his win in Iowa, went on to win N.H., as I recall.

What you are citing are national polls, which mean very little. What matters most at this stage are the polls for Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Clinton, Obama, and Edwards are the only Dems polling decently in those three states. The dye is cast. I wish it weren't so. I think Biden would make the best President. But even if he won the nomination, the country does not elect long-term Democratic senators from the northeast. Biden knows this. But he will make an excellent Sec. of State.

[liberalla]

22. KICK for Biden & Budowsky!

Love them both!

[whirlygigspin]

23. Biden is the right choice

for this time

[PatSeg]

24. Yes he is

He is the perfect person for this time in our history.