We went out to Toledo this morning to see the Vice President speak:
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Obama administration’s go-to emissary to the Rust Belt, waded into his political sweet zone on Thursday, promoting the White House’s economic record to a raucous gathering at the United Auto Workers Local 12 hall. He talked up the American auto industry, praised the president’s spine and criticized the Republican presidential candidates by name – repeatedly – accusing them of being “about protecting the privileged sector.”
“I am laying out a clear and stark difference between us and our opponents,” Mr. Biden said before a supportive crowd of about 500, many of them employees of Jeep, one of this city’s biggest employers.
Mr. Biden’s drop-in to this electorally vital state was billed by the president’s re-election enterprise as a first salvo of sorts in a more formal phase of the campaign.
Mr. Biden’s rhetoric was also more nakedly campaign-oriented than typically vice presidential. It included explicit denunciations of some of the remaining Republican candidates, Rick Santorum, the former senator of Pennsylvania,Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, and – particularly – Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, whom the White House still views as its most likely challenger in the fall, despite Mr. Romney’s losses to Mr. Santorum in two Southern primaries this week.
“The verdict is in,” Mr. Biden said. “President Obama was right, and they were dead wrong.”
General raucousness:
Less raucous, but maybe more dangerous. The woman on the left is a neighborhood team leader (Alinskyite, obviously) and the woman on the right calls herself a “volunteer” (ACORN?):
We here in Ohio are going to hear how Mitt Romney wanted to let Detroit go bankrupt each and every day until November.
BGinCHI
And that tune ought to play all over the country. Chevy commercials are practically America First ads, so I don’t see how the GOP runs against apple pie, baseball, and puppies.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
Vice Presidents are always designated attack dogs in campaigns, and Joe unplugged can be pretty vicious with a smile to boot.
Loneoak
Joey B sure does love a proper American car with a real engine under the hood.
Schlemizel
Just heard that Ronny is floating his own trial balloon to match Willards. He will give his delegates to dog on car in return for Ayn Paul being VP. Wish my old man could have finagled a deal like that for me
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
It’s the large handbag that gives it away; there are obviously Molotov cocktails in there, amiright?
willard
Don’t forget that Mitt eventually came out in support of SB5.
kay
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
She probably actually is pretty “dangerous”, as a neighborhood team leader. She seemed to be a determined and focused person.
I wouldn’t screw with her :)
Ruckus
@Loneoak:
Got me.
I didn’t notice that it was the Onion.
That’s a dollar in the gee wiz jar.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Heavens to Betsey! He mentioned them by name! Such rhetoric! They’ve been calling Obama the anti-religion, crypto-sosh’list, in-over-his-head, foodstamp president for over a year, and now Joe Biden has resorted to this kind of vitriol! Whither the Republic, Cokie? I was listening to MSNBC in the car today, and the anchorbot was quite Concerned about tone and rhetoric. And then poor, confused Michael Steele was on the Tweety Show, pretty much saying “damn right, we should’ve let Detroit go bankrupt!”
Omnes Omnibus
@Loneoak: I love that one.
WereBear
Go go go Joe Biden!
There were several people in our relatives/friends circle who perked right up when President Obama chose Joe Biden as his running mate. “Joe Biden! He’s all right!”
And, we have the BFD t shirts to show “We love Joe!”
TBogg
Those two women in the bottom picture: were they standing in line to get their free government slut pills? They look like the type, all slutty and vagina-y.
Harlots.
Omnes Omnibus
@WereBear: I really think Biden and Obama pair well for campaign purposes. Different but complimentary styles and personalities; they seem to genuinely like one another. It also doesn’t hurt that Biden is not really interested in moving up and is willing to devote himself to the VP role without concern about setting himself up for the future.
kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Marcy Kaptur, at the event:
“We would have lost this lodestar manufacturing platform“. Oh, okay, Marcy.
Them’s fighting words! :)
It’s not raucous, granted, but it’s appealingly specific to that industry and audience.
Loneoak
@Omnes Omnibus:
Their whole coverage of the Biden Vice Presidency is comedy genius. It’s hard to put my finger on why exactly it’s so hilarious, and I’m one of those jerks that ruins humor by analyzing it.
Tonal Crow
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Bobo column about how “both sides” are equally responsible for “lack of civility” in 5…4…3….!
Brian R.
And look at those thuggy union thugs. They thought they could hide their thuggish ways by wearing black-colored brown shirts, but we all know thugs when we see them. Thugs.
Roger Moore
@Tonal Crow:
If “being uncivil” involves Democrats calling Republicans on their lies, sexism, racism, classism, and homophobia, by all means, let us be uncivil.
ChrisNYC
Love the top picture. Totally adorable. And I bet those two ladies are quite dangerous, in that completely fantastic staunch woman Dem way.
WereBear
@Omnes Omnibus: They are a nice blend of “alike, but different” that is refreshing to see.
And might I just add that my prayers have been answered. The Goddess speaks, and says, “That’s right, honeychile. The Republicans are that dumb.”
I knew it, I knew it.
rikyrah
it still needs to be a bumper sticker.
but if not, everytime we see Joe Biden in our local press, he needs to put it in every speech
OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD AND GENERAL MOTORS IS ALIVE
every damn day until election day
Michael
I don’t care that the man sometimes dines on his own feet, or that he’s tailor-made for The Onion, I jes’ loves me some smilin’ Joe Biden. BFD indeed.
David Koch
oNLY rON pAUL tELLS dA tROOOTH!
pAUL/cENK 2012!
Roger Moore
@David Koch:
Anyone who hasn’t looked at it yet should check out the hover text on this soon-to-be classic XKCD.
David Koch
tHE pEOPLE iN tHE pHOTOS lOOK sO oUT oF tOUCH, i bET nONE oF tHEM hAVE eVER hEARD oF bRADLEY mANNING, tHE lEADING iSSUE oF oUR tIME.
Omnes Omnibus
Did stuff just disappear?
Eric Lindholm
I notice that the number of comments here tend to dwindle when everybody just agrees how awesome Obama and Fightin’ Joe are, especially when they saved that auto industry.
And all it cost American taxpayers was $23 billion. That’s money that could have been spend in classrooms or aircraft carriers or Medicare or debt reduction. But, hey, we got the Volt! So that’s something.
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
Great post and great pictures. Thanks!
slightly-peeved
There was an interview a while ago where Biden talked about the Onion’s portrayal of him; apparently he’s a Corvette man rather than a Trans-am man, but he found The Onion’s stuff on him hilarious.
I can’t imagine Obama disliking the coverage he gets in The Onion that much. I’m sure there’s a little bit of him that agrees with the ‘Obama starts ‘give me one good goddamn reason why I should do this POS job for four more years’ campaign’ story they did.