Question for fellow Biden fans - when did you start listening to him?

[Muttocracy]

A comment on another thread made me wonder - when did us Biden junkies get to know something about Joe? It's a fun question for the group, but also an interesting question given Biden's problem in the primary with "who's that guy? he seemed pretty smart at the debates?" etc. I cried when I saw a comment on a YouTube clip where someone wrote (in Feb or March) "hey, this guy should run for president" and I think it was a genuine comment, not snark.

I was too young to pay much attention to the Clarence Thomas hearings.

I remember a little bit from the Clinton impeachment hearings - think Joe must have been involved with that via Judiciary or full Senate but not even sure. I listened to bits on NPR, not TV, so it was a question of getting to know voices. My knowledge of politicians is a bit skewed due to lack of TV - only in the last few months have I been watching C-Span, MSNBC, etc. via internet.

When I REALLY said, "Who is this brilliant man?!" was when I heard him giving a speech to the National Press Club a few years ago. Subject? Real security threats facing the U.S. His answer? Not the nutty missile defense shields - remember those? Instead, the threat would be terrorism, particularly domestic terrorism, even on airplanes and other public transportation. I stopped to really listen, not just background while I worked, and it gave me chills. The date? September 10, 2001.

Who knows where Guiliani and Bush&Co were that day, but on 9/10/01, Biden was warning Bush was off track. When I heard the news the following morning, I was astounded.

Didn't start following him really close like watching hearings until he announced for president, though I think when I would hear him on the news, I'd think, that's that smart guy again. As soon as he announced for president, I was psyched, but then of course, the media attacked him right away.

How about you?

[jillan]

1. 2004. I was watching a Kerry event on C-Span.

Afterwards the camera went to Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware who was chewing out the reporters about the swiftboat liars. I stood up and cheered him on. He was the only one I saw during that time that was raising he11 about the lies. Been following him ever since and the day he announced that he was running for President was a very exciting day for me....until the media made a big deal about his description of Obama.

I wish I would have seen that speech he made on 9/10/01.
I heard about it, and asked Erin at the Bidenblog to post it so we could all read it.
It sent shivers down my spine. Gateley, tsegat and I posted it 'out there' during the primaries, and there was alot of praise for his words (along with the usual comments). Amazing how right-on his intuition was that day.

[Muttocracy]

2. here's the audio

http://www.npr.org/programs/npc/2001/010910.jbiden.html

webpage has typo in date - 2001 not 2000

edit - warning - listening may induce tears.

[Muttocracy]

3. another great way to get to know him - sticking up for Kerry :)

[Muttocracy]

4. trying to google for his 2002 speech there and found your post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3907260

[jillan]

5. Reading that really makes me miss those days before Iowa.

Corona was a hoot. Fiesty like you wouldn't believe! Really miss her, and more than that, I miss the days when we all believed Joe had a chance :(

I'll check out that audio another day. My new schedule starting tomorrow is getting up at 5:30 am...going to take some getting used to for this nite owl! Can't wait to hear it, as I only have read his words.

[Muttocracy]

6. it's audio only, not video. I'm listening to it now and crying

for things lost in 2001 and more recently.

[jillan]

7. Tomorrow I will definitely listen to it.

If it makes you feel any better, I cry whenever I think about how the election of 2000 was stolen from Gore. Can you imagine where we would be today if Gore was our President over the last 7 years?
9/11 never would have happened, we wouldn't be at war and America would be prospering with green technology. Who knows - we might even be off of oil by now. And instead of heading into financial turmoil, the US dollar would be strong as ever.
And our social security would've been under a lockbox.


Maybe it's better to not think what might have been.

[Muttocracy]

8. it's good to remember for motivation, but too much of that

is depressing. But to hear Biden talking about dangers in Pakistan and from terrorist and anthrax back in 2001 :cry: :cry:

[gateley]

9. Whoa - some old names on that thread --

as well as some still alive and kickin'! :grouphug:

[PatSeg]

10. Wow, that brought back memories

It seems so long ago, but I do remember typing the speech from his book while drinking wine. That speech should have gotten more attention.

[gateley]

11. Back when Biden first ran for President I wasn't into

politics AT ALL. My MO had always been to just let "you guys" pick the nominee, and then I'd vote for him.

Then I'd start hearing his name -- in a condescending way -- on newscasts. I asked my friend Jim -- who is this guy Bidden they're making fun of all the time? (I seem to recall it was after a little story on him.) He said "Oh he's some guy who was running for President and always steals everybody else's lines" or something like that.

Then, probably in 2005 or 2006,I heard him a few times on Imus - usually talking about Veterans affairs or what bullshit the war in Iraq was, and I liked him! He wasn't a typical politician and seemed to tell it like it was (same impression everybody gets.) I MAY have also seen him on Bill Maher - my time frame is a bit iffy.

Soooo, this go 'round I decided to pay attention to who was running. I heard Biden was in the race, even though I liked him from what I'd heard on Imus, I figured he probably wasn't going to be a contender, but I didn't discount him as I might have had I not heard him on the radio.

I started watching the debates, and for the first few I felt I'd be okay with ANY of them as President. But slowly, Biden started pulling ahead of the pack. He ANSWERED the questions! He responded! He didn't just use the questions as a jumping point to present a somewhat prepared statement. (I think Joe, Richardson, Gravel, Dodd and Dennis were pretty impressive. I thought Obama, Hillary and Edwards were just presenting their "right" answers.)

When I first came here, I hadn't even decided for Biden yet. I honestly was kind of paying attention to Ron Paul because I was so disgusted with our government, I thought we needed somebody to pull out the rug from under it and basically start all over. Paul's Libertarian bent appealed to me. (I knew nothing of his staunch pro-life and racist leanings.)

Anyway the more I saw Joe, the more I realized we needed HIM, that he was just perfect for this god-awful time in our history. And more than any of the others, I believed him and trusted him -- believed IN him.

It wasn't too long after I came to DU, and with the guidance and sterling examples of Pirhana, tsegat and Debi, that I gave myself, body and soul, to Joe. :loveya:

[PatSeg]

13. When I first found out that Joe was running

for president, I wasn't too vocal about my support for him. I frequently heard people tear him up and figured it was a long shot. I also didn't know a lot about his background and considered that there might be some bad stuff that I didn't know about.

Occasionally I'd comment on a video at YouTube and then I started reading posts at DU, always keeping my eye out for some Biden-related. That's when I ran into Pirhana and the rest is history. Little by little, Biden supporters started to come out of the shadows and expressed their views. What a great bunch of people and many of them are still here!

[PatSeg]

12. 2004

I had begun watching Meet the Press regularly and Biden just stood out from all the others. I remember thinking he should run for president. Occasionally I caught a hearing with Joe and was blown away. My favorite was when he questioned Ashcroft about torture. Ashcroft was VERY uncomfortable.

At that time everyone, republicans and Democrats, was speaking in "talking-point" language and I was very frustrated. Biden was the only who didn't talk like a typical politician. I'm hooked for life!

[Eurobabe]

14. I'd heard him off and on since 2000

So when he ran, I knew full well who he was. At that point I was for Obama, but once the debates started, I switched to Joe, willingly and happily. :loveya:

Edit: being a southeast PA resident for many, many years, I knew that he was Delaware's senator, and lived about 45 minutes south of where I was. I remember hearing stories that he commuted to DC everyday, that blew my mind. It's really not that far, I guess you get used to it, but it's still a commute.