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At the Windmill Ice Cream Shop in Aliquippa, Penn, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, asked his running mate if he was getting hard of soft ice cream. "Let's see what we've got here," Obama said as he approached the counter. "So," he said to Biden, "you decided to go with soft?" "I'm getting hard!" Biden said. "I'm a hard guy!" Chuckles all around as Obama orders his wife a small sundae.

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On Monday morning in Denver, where the Democratic National Convention is underway, Archbishop Charles Chaput told the Associated Press that because of support for abortion, Biden should refrain from taking Communion. The selection of Sen. Joseph Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate is drawing a chorus of disapproval from Catholic intellectual and pro-life leaders because of Biden’s longstanding support for abortion. Most recently, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver has said that Biden should refrain from Communion.

No matter how much I hooted and mooed when Bill Clinton slithered on stage last night to nourish his ego afresh, I couldn't help cracking a smile of recognition when Bubba brought out his slowest drawl to declare, "I looove Joe Biden." I have been hearing that exact same phrase, drawn out just the same way, from Southern delegates all week when I asked them about Obama's number two. "Oh, we looove Joe Biden," they say, almost always adding that they love him because he just comes on out and says it, consequences be damned. It's been a while since...

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - New Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden was blasted on Wednesday, in the wake of Nancy Pelosi's much derided remarks to the same effect, for claiming that his radically pro-abortion stance is "totally consistent" with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Biden made the remarks in an interview with the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) in August of last year, which has received renewed attention in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding Pelosi's remarks. While discussing his desire to attract Catholics to the Democratic Party, Sen. Biden said, "My views are totally consistent with...

Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden's speech at the Democratic National Convention was great. As I write, he hasn't given it yet, but these are my favorite parts: "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." "These Republican leaders have not...

Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden's speech at the Democratic National Convention was great. As I write, he hasn't given it yet, but these are my favorite parts: "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." "These Republican leaders have not...

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday night that the challenges America faces require ``more than a good soldier'' in the White House and called Barack Obama a wise leader who can deliver the change the nation needs. In a single sentence, Obama's new running mate complimented John McCain's years of military service and slapped his claim on the presidency. The Delaware senator told the Democratic National Convention he'd learned a lot about Obama by campaigning against him for his party's presidential nomination. Biden was an early dropout in that campaign, quitting after he managed only 1 percent of...

Joe Biden supposedly will attract Catholics to the Democratic ticket, but not if he follows Pope Nancy Pelosi for doctrinal guidance. In a profile of Biden for the Christian Science Monitor, Biden credits his Catholicism for his focus on “abuse of power”, but shrugs off the abortion debate as a minor controversy. He even goes on to tell Gail Russell Chaddock that his views on social issues fall completely within Catholic doctrine

LA Times: Biden son, brother invested with firm that lobbied him The L.A. Times is just popped a big story the Obama-Biden folks don't want to be reading the night the Delaware senator introduces himself to the nation: a potential conflict of interest involving Biden and one of the nation's biggest asbestos litigation law firms — which also happens to be his top contributor. The report seems to provide fuel to Obama supporters enraged Illinois senator picked a running mate with such deep ties to the D.C. cash-politics-lobbying world. Investigative reporters Chuck Neubauer and Tom Hamburger: "When Joe Biden’s brother...

PRINCETON, NJ -- It's official: Barack Obama has received no bounce in voter support out of his selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his vice presidential running mate. Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Aug. 23-25, the first three-day period falling entirely after Obama's Saturday morning vice presidential announcement, shows 46% of national registered voters backing John McCain and 44% supporting Obama, not appreciably different from the previous week's standing for both candidates. This is the first time since Obama clinched the nomination in early June, though, that McCain has held any kind of advantage over Obama in Gallup Poll...

...A friend had a brief discussion with Biden during a book signing in the spring at Rehoboth, Delaware. Biden was autographing copies of Promises to Keep, which examines his life and Senate career, including the plagiarism incidents. This individual was greatly concerned about the role of George Soros in financing the drug legalization movement but knew that Biden had been generally supportive of the war on drugs. She asked for Biden’s help in exposing Soros’s influence in the political process. He replied, “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Soros lately.” That ended the discussion. You don’t have to...

Now that Obama has made his momentous choice, it is useful to recall that during a Democratic presidential candidates’ debate in April 2007, Biden was among those who did not raise his hand to affirm his belief in the existence of a “global war on terror.” In this, Biden and the head of the ticket appear to be completely simpatico. This has been clear from the beginning of the presumptive Democratic nominee’s campaign: analyzing an Obama speech at the same time that Biden was denying the existence of the war on terror, a Washington Post editorial noted that the candidate...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence praised Senator Barack Obama's choice for his vice presidential running mate, Senator Joe Biden. "Joe Biden is a straight talker about the need for common sense laws to keep dangerous people from getting dangerous weapons," said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "He has been a solid advocate for sensible gun laws that protect our police officers and our families. I was proud to stand with him just weeks ago in Philadelphia when he joined with our nation's mayors in supporting tough crime...

Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden's speech at the Democratic National Convention was great. As I write, he hasn't given it yet, but these are my favorite parts: "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." "These Republican leaders have not...

JOE BIDEN: HAIR WE CAN BELIEVE INAugust 27, 2008 Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden's speech at the Democratic National Convention was great. As I write, he hasn't given it yet, but these are my favorite parts: "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all...

In selecting Joseph Biden as his running mate, Barack Obama acknowledged the importance of foreign affairs to this year's election. His Web site trumpeted Biden as "an expert on foreign policy" and a man "who has stared down dictators."As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden is well versed in policy debates and carefully choreographed trips. But his record on the Islamic Republic of Iran -- perhaps the chief national security threat facing the next president -- suggests a persistent and dangerous judgment deficit. Biden's unyielding pursuit of "engagement" with Iran for more than a decade has made it...

AS his vice-presidential running mate, Barack Obama chose a baptized Cath olic from blue-collar Scranton, Pa. - Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. But will an abortion-rights supporter really help Obama with Catholic voters? Four years ago, pro-abortion Catholic John Kerry received fewer Catholic votes than had Democrats' 2000 nominee, Protestant Al Gore. In 2004, practicing Catholics were the decisive factor in many swing states. In Ohio, for instance, 65 percent of them voted for Bush, and in Florida President Bush's support from practicing Catholics reached 66 percent. Former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, after visiting numerous parishes in liberal Massachusetts, said...

Firm Lobbies Senator Biden Although Son Does Not ---- Although firm members say Biden, 38, does not lobby his father, this kind of family tie, said Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, "raises the potential of a conflict of interest." For its part, the Obama campaign said that Sen. Biden had always followed ethics rules. "Hunter Biden has never lobbied Sen. Biden's office or committees, period," David Wade, Obama-Biden spokesperson, wrote in an email response. "He's never worked on a client issue where other members of the firm have lobbied the office. Hunter shares expenses not revenues with...

Biden's political games have made him Tehran's favorite senator. As Gen. David Petraeus struggled to unite Iraqis across the ethnic and sectarian divide, Iran's Press TV seized on Biden's plan for partitioning Iraq and featured his statements with the headline "US plans to disintegrate Iraq." Biden's attack-dog statements about U.S. policy failures emboldened Iranian hard-liners to defy diplomacy. In the Dec. 7, 2007, official sermon, Ayatollah Mohammad Kashani speaking on behalf of Iran's supreme leader, declared, "This Senator [Biden] correctly says Israel could not suppress Hizbullah in Lebanon, so how can the U.S. stand face-to-face with a nation of 70...

<p>The image of Joe Biden that Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and the dominant establishment media want Americans to accept may be that of a tempered, likable working-class Irish Catholic you’d love to have a beer with.</p> <p>In fact, Biden is known for opposing — and at times destroying — the Republican presidents’ nominees for top jobs. During George H.W. Bush’s administration, for instance, he helped squash fellow Sen. John Tower’s nomination to be secretary of defense in 1989.</p>

Catholic Archbishop Chaput, who was scheduled to lead a pro-life candlelight vigil Monday night here in front of Planned Parenthood, called Mr. Biden's support for abortion rights "seriously wrong," said archdiocese spokeswoman Jeanette De Melo. "I certainly presume his good will and integrity," said the archbishop, "and I presume that his integrity will lead him to refrain from presenting himself for Communion if he supports a false 'right' to abortion." The archbishop, who was not invited to speak at any convention events in what appeared to be a deliberate snub, told the Associated Press that he would like to speak...

Sure there's all that talk that Sen. Joe Biden brings to Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign some gravitas on the issues of foreign affairs and national security. But the choice of Biden as Obama's running mate also reflects some of the synergy among the Illinois senator's senior strategists. One of Biden's top advisers for his short-lived 2008 presidential campaign was David Wilhelm, an ex-Chicagoan who formerly chaired the Democratic National Committee and was the 1992 campaign manager for Bill Clinton. Wilhelm, who is a superdelegate from Ohio, also was Biden's Iowa campaign director in the Delaware senator's ill-fated 1988 presidential...

This is a transcript of Biden's speech in Springfield, I want you to parse what he is saying here: Snip... Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here for their future; I'm here for the future of your kids. I'm here for everyone I — I'm here for everyone I grew up [with] in Scranton, Pennsylvania, who's been forgotten and everybody in Claymont, Delaware, in Wilmington where I lived. I'm here for the cops and the firefighters, the teachers and the line workers, the folks who live — the folks whose lives are the measure of whether the American dream endures. snip. Notice...

DENVER - Sen. Joe Biden has no bounce, at least according to the Gallup Daily tracking polls. It's official: Sen. Barack Obama has received no bounce in voter support out of his selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his vice presidential running mate. Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Aug. 23 to 25 -- the first three-day period falling entirely after Obama's Saturday morning vice presidential announcement -- shows 46 percent of national registered voters backing Sen. John McCain and 44 percent supporting Obama. This is not appreciably different from the previous week's standing for both candidates. This is the...

On Monday morning in Denver, where the Democratic National Convention is underway, Archbishop Charles Chaput told the Associated Press that because of support for abortion, Biden should refrain from taking Communion. DENVER (CNA) - The selection of Sen. Joseph Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate is drawing a chorus of disapproval from Catholic intellectual and pro-life leaders because of Biden’s longstanding support for abortion. Most recently, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver has said that Biden should refrain from Communion. Over the weekend, CNA spoke with several prominent Catholics regarding Biden’s nomination for the Democratic vice-presidential slot. The well-known Catholic intellectual...

Sen. Biden’s VAWA Cover-Up 2008-08-25 at 2:30 pm · Amidst the hoopla surrounding Sen. Joseph Biden’s ascendancy to the right hand of Barack Obama, something was curiously missing. Over the last 15 years, Biden has repeatedly bragged to his friends and colleagues, “What I’m most proud of in my entire career is the Violence Against Women Act.” So why no mention of his legislative pride-and-joy amidst the flurry of text messages, press releases, and staged public appearances? The answer is, VAWA has become something of an embarrassment to the good senator. The Violence Against Women Act and related laws extract...

Gallup Daily: No Bounce for Obama in Post Biden Tracking McCain creeps ahead, 46% to 44% PRINCETON, NJ -- It's official: Barack Obama has received no bounce in voter support out of his selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his vice presidential running mate. Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Aug. 23-25, the first three-day period falling entirely after Obama's Saturday morning vice presidential announcement, shows 46% of national registered voters backing John McCain and 44% supporting Obama, not appreciably different from the previous week's standing for both candidates. This is the first time since Obama clinched the nomination in...

The appointment of Joe Biden as vice presidential candidate was not the beginning of Obama’s demise. It is just another in a long series of blunders and misbegotten decisions that highlight his fundamental lack of judgment. If he manages to win in November his deficits in wisdom will spell disaster for our nation. Luckily, Obama hitching his future to such a mercurial figure reveals that he may be his apprentice’s soul mate — at least in regards to the art of self-sabotage. His choice makes this race John McCain’s to lose. Therefore, on behalf of all non-leftist citizens everywhere, I...

BACK TO JIMMY - What Biden Pick Really Signals BY choosing Sen. Joseph Biden as his vice-presiden tial running mate, Barack Obama sent three messages. The first two are implicit admissions that Hillary Clinton had a point in the primaries. The third tells us more of what Obama means by "change." Biden is supposed to make up for Obama's lack of the knowledge and experience needed to leader on national security and international affairs. And the Delaware senator, with his humble working-class origins, is also meant to reassure the "simple folk" that Obama seems to be losing. But the third...

Joe Biden starts crying while speaking to his supporters earlier today.

JOSEPH CARI : 30-year friend of VP pick guilty in kickback scheme . No matter what help Barack Obama might get from Sen. Joseph Biden, his newly named vice presidential running mate won't give Obama much cover on the Tony Rezko front. Biden has described himself as a 30-year friend of a key figure in the Rezko trial who's pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge in Chicago and is awaiting sentencing. When the Delaware senator began contemplating his own 2008 presidential run, he initially was helped by Chicago lawyer Joseph Cari Jr., who also served as Biden's Midwest field...

Veepstakes: If Barack Obama really were a "uniter," he wouldn't name the "scrappy kid from Scranton" as his running mate/attack dog. Ultra-liberal Sen. Joseph Biden's frequent smile belies the scalps on his belt.The image of Joe Biden that Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign and the dominant establishment media want Americans to accept may be that of a tempered, likable working-class Irish Catholic you'd love to have a beer with. In fact, Biden is known for opposing — and at times destroying — the Republican presidents' nominees for top jobs. During George H.W. Bush's administration, for instance, he helped squash fellow...

WASHINGTON - A son of Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden was paid an undisclosed amount of money as a consultant by MBNA, the largest employer in Delaware, during the years the senator supported legislation that was promoted by the credit card industry and opposed by consumer groups. ADVERTISEMENT Barack Obama's presidential campaign said Biden helped forge a bipartisan compromise on the measure, which is now law and makes it harder for consumers to obtain bankruptcy protection in the courts. MBNA's consulting payments to Hunter Biden, first reported by The New York Times, followed his departure in 2001 from the...

DENVER -- No matter what help Barack Obama might get from Sen. Joseph Biden, his newly named vice presidential running mate won't give Obama much cover on the Tony Rezko front. Biden has described himself as a 30-year friend of a key figure in the Rezko trial who's pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge in Chicago and is awaiting sentencing. When the Delaware senator began contemplating his own 2008 presidential run, he initially was helped by Chicago lawyer Joseph Cari Jr., who also served as Biden's Midwest field director in his failed 1988 bid for president.

Biden is the third most liberal Senator in the U.S. Congress, and a nearly 100% pro-abortion Senator.

DENVER -- Barack Obama tapped Joe Biden to be his running mate because of his working-class roots, foreign policy experience and ability to deliver a sharp rhetorical attack. But in Biden's first stop as the presumptive vice-presidential nominee, he showed another skill important for the campaign trail: an appreciation for unhealthy food. The Delaware senator, joined by a whole clan of Bidens that included his daughter, wife, brother and two sons, bought five pulled pork sandwiches and a lemonade in downtown Denver at a street vendor called Boney's Smokehouse. At the photo-op, which was arranged by the Obama campaign, Biden...

Teachers and scholars consider the unattributed use of someone else's words and ideas to be a very serious offense, but the public doesn't seem to mind much, at least when it comes to politics. The incidents of plagiarism and fabrication that forced Joe Biden to quit the 1988 presidential race have drawn little comment since his selection as Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate—just as revelations of plagiarism by Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin scarcely hurt their book sales. In 1987, before Biden quit the race, he called the incidents "a tempest in a teapot." Although most reporters disagreed...

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5649093&page=1 Barack Obama's vice-presidential pick complicates the Democratic hopeful's efforts to distance himself from a far-reaching Chicago patronage scandal. Vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. (left), has been advised since 1984 by Joseph Cari (right), the Chicago lawyer and onetime mega-fundraiser who has been tied to the Antoin "Tony" Rezko patronage scandal. (ABC News)Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., brings to Obama's presidential campaign assets like foreign policy experience and a knowledge of Washington. But he also brings another tie to the Antoin "Tony" Rezko scandal, a mess that has already caused sizeable headaches for the Obama campaign. Chicago lawyer and onetime...

Biden Tied to Rezko Fraud Figure Vice-Presidential Candidate's Former Campaign Advisor and Fundraiser Aided Kickback Scheme By JUSTIN ROOD August 25, 2008— Barack Obama's vice-presidential pick complicates the Democratic hopeful's efforts to distance himself from a far-reaching Chicago patronage scandal. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., brings to Obama's presidential campaign assets like foreign policy experience and a knowledge of Washington. But he also brings another tie to the Antoin "Tony" Rezko scandal, a mess that has already caused sizeable headaches for the Obama campaign. Chicago lawyer and onetime mega-fundraiser Joseph Cari has advised Biden and his campaigns on and off since...

Among the likely choices for Obama's running mate, Joe Biden was not the person reformers were hoping to see on the democratic ticket. Radley Balko sums up Biden's drug war credentials: …from a policy perspective, it’s a disaster. Biden has sponsored more damaging drug war legislation than any Democrat in Congress. Hate the way federal prosecutors use RICO laws to take aim at drug offenders? Thank Biden. How about the abomination that is federal asset forfeiture laws? Thank Biden. Think federal prosecutors have too much power in drug cases? Thank Biden. Think the title of a “Drug Czar” is sanctimonious...

Sen. Barack Obama / Sen. Joseph Biden Denver, Aug 25, 2008 / 02:24 pm (CNA).- The selection of Sen. Joseph Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate is drawing a chorus of disapproval from Catholic intellectual and pro-life leaders because of Biden’s longstanding support for abortion. Most recently, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver has said that Biden should refrain from Communion. Over the weekend, CNA spoke with several prominent Catholics regarding Biden’s nomination for the Democratic vice-presidential slot.  The well-known Catholic intellectual and author George Weigel explained to CNA that Obama’s choice was expected. “Barack Obama is a pro-abortion radical,...

New York and 11 other states are suing federal environmental regulators over greenhouse gas emissions from oil refineries, the New York attorney general's office said on Monday. The suit, led by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, charges that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the federal Clean Air Act by refusing to issue standards, known as new source performance standards, for controlling global warming pollution emissions from oil refineries. Note: Other states in the suit are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. New York City and Washington D.C. also joined in...

In 1988, Biden suffered a cranial aneurysm and nearly died. He recovered by early 1989 after two surgeries and has enjoyed good health since then.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate reached a pivotal point in a secret meeting on the night of Aug. 6. Sen. Biden was whisked into a Minneapolis hotel room through a back entrance before Sen. Obama left for his Hawaii vacation. They talked one-on-one for 90 minutes. "It was spirited and pragmatic," says one adviser who was briefed. The rendezvous capped weeks of pitching by Biden advisers. It culminated in Sen. Obama's formal announcement by text message around 3 a.m. Saturday that Sen. Biden was the choice, and led to...

Biden is no threat to Obama - but no asset In rejecting Hillary Clinton for a politician with a murky record, the presidential candidate may have lost the White House William Rees-Mogg Joe Biden has one crucial qualification to be the next vice-president of the United States, at least in the eyes of Barack Obama. He is not Hillary Clinton. Mr Obama has made the opposite decision to the one made by another young and relatively inexperienced Senator in 1960. John F.Kennedy distrusted and detested Lyndon Johnson, but he asked him to become his running- mate in the election because...

The candidate of change went with the status quo. In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness — inexperience in office and on foreign policy — rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions.

On August 2, 2007, after the "surge" counter-insurgency strategy in Iraq was already yielding reported signs of success, Joe Biden - who was running for President - posted on YouTube a campaign video which included clips from his speech from the floor of the Senate, denouncing the "surge" and predicting its utter failure. Here's are Biden's words (on the video, go to the 3 minute mark): "The question is do we continue - do we continue - to send our kids into the middle of a meat grinder, based on a policy that is fundamentally flawed. We predicted there would...

For the people of Delaware who are tired of apologizing for the antics of Joe Biden, change is coming. Get ready to feel proud of your Senator again. Christine O'Donnell for Senate.

With the choice of Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware to be his running mate, Sen. Barack Obama shored up what many perceive to be his own glaring weaknesses. Biden is experienced in the ways of Washington, while Obama is relatively new to the nation's capital. Biden is an expert on foreign affairs as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, while Obama is a novice. And Biden comes from working class roots and boasts an ease in communicating with blue-collar workers that Obama has struggled to develop. To many voters, Biden is likely to be seen as someone who could...